Oceanside CA— MiraCosta College ’s Development and Foundation Office has named sociology instructor Dr. Thao Ha the 2015/16 MiraCosta College Cares! Philanthropist of the Year.
In addition to being an enthusiastic and engaging professor impacting students every day in the classroom, Dr. Ha gives generously from her own pocketbook. She began giving almost from the day she arrived on campus by signing up for payroll giving and by occasionally dropping off a check in the Development and Foundation Office.
Dr. Ha contributed to the Campaign for North County Youth, which will provide more than $100,000 in scholarships for disadvantaged Oceanside students, and is currently endowing a scholarship in honor of her parents On and Phat Ha. But that’s not all. Some of the other causes she is currently supporting include the Asian Pacific Islander Scholarship, the Trans* Empowerment Scholarship and the Karen Baum Scholarship.
In addition to her personal giving, Dr. Ha is a leader in encouraging her colleagues to give either through payroll giving or by encouraging them to buy jewelry that she designs and sells, with all of the profits going to support MiraCosta College and its students.
The MiraCosta College Cares! Philanthropist of the Year award is given annually to a faculty or staff member who has provided or inspired significant financial support to MiraCosta College. In 2012, an anonymous donor established the MiraCosta Cares! Scholarship Endowment in recognition of employee generosity and asked the Development and Foundation Office to honor a faculty or staff member annually for his or her extraordinary philanthropic spirit.
The MiraCosta College Cares! Philanthropist of the Year recipient receives a beautifully engraved award in addition to the honor of presenting the MiraCosta College Cares! Scholarship at the college’s annual scholarship awards celebration.