In the months following the state's deadliest mass shooting in modern times, Oregon Institute of Technology President Chris Maples quietly set up a new scholarship program.

Starting this fall, OIT will waive tuition for any Umpqua Community College student who was in one of four classes in Snyder Hall on Oct. 1 when a gunman killed 10 people, including himself, and wounded 8 others.

The "UCC Hero Scholarship" is available to 85 students, Maples said in an interview Thursday. OIT picked that criteria with the help of UCC since those students were "considered most physically and emotionally impacted" because of their proximity to the shooting.

Three UCC students are already enrolled at OIT this fall and a fourth has applied to the four-year school.

Maples said that was more than he expected to show up so soon. The scholarship will be available to any of the survivors who qualify as long as they apply by Jan. 1, 2020, and are enrolled by 2021. OIT wanted to give the students time to "get settled and get back as much of a normal life as they can," Maples said.

Maples said he reached out to then-UCC interim president Rita Cavin shortly after the shooting and asked what he could do to help. "What can we do to not let somebody get them off track," Maples said. "To not let somebody completely derail a part of their life they were working on."

OIT settled on a special scholarship program to offer free tuition for UCC students "until they complete a bachelor's degree" at either the Klamath Falls or Wilsonville campuses.

"Our goal is to help these people," Maples said. "It's just the right thing to do,"

Students must still be admitted to OIT. The scholarship applies to all programs, aside from the Nursing track, according to the scholarship form. Students must also maintain a 2.0 grade point average.

In-state tuition at the four-year school based in Klamath Falls is approaching $10,000 per year.



-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen