AT&T presents $10,000 for Wright STEPP program

Mark Romito, (right) director of external affairs for AT&T Ohio, presents a $10,000 check to S. Narayanan, (left) dean of the Wright State College of Engineering and Computer Science. The check is a gift for the Wright STEPP program. At center is Ruby Mawasha, assistant dean and program director of Wright STEPP.

AT&T has donated $10,000 to the Wright STEPP program in what is the first major collaboration on an academic program between the company and Wright State University.

Mark Romito, director of external affairs for AT&T Ohio, presented the gift to S. Narayanan, Ph.D., dean of the  College of Engineering and Computer Science, and Ruby Mawasha, Ph.D., assistant dean and program director of Wright STEPP, during an Aug. 9 ceremony at the college.

Wright STEPP is designed to increase the number of students from public schools in Dayton and Springfield who graduate from high school with the academic skills to earn their bachelor’s degrees in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM).

“It just fits very well with the AT&T Foundation emphasis,” said Romito. “Anything that could help with the retention of students, to get them through high school and to get a good foothold into college is a high priority for our foundation.”

Mawasha said the $10,000 gift is very important.

“It goes very far in terms of educating just that one kid who does not have an opportunity to go to college,” Mawasha said.

Wright STEPP has operated successfully for 24 years, with more than 900 students completing the program. Success indicators include an 80 percent completion rate, a 100 percent Ohio Proficiency Test/Ohio Graduation Test pass rate among graduates and a 50 percent enrollment rate in Wright State degree programs, with the highest enrollments in science, math, engineering and business.

Initial funding of Wright STEPP was provided entirely by Wright State, but since 1990 a variety of donors have supplied funding and in-kind support. They include the Standard Register Co., the Sherman-Standard Register Foundation, General Motors Corp., the U.S. Department of Energy, Mead Data Central, the Ohio Board of Regents, the American Association of Blacks in Engineering, Corning Glass, the Armed Forces Communications-Electronics Association, The Springfield Foundation, The Llewellyn Foundation, the Della Selsor Trust and the National Science Foundation.