Creative Options Scholarship

In February 1960 an event called Creative Options: A Day for Women was held for the first time on the CLC campus. It was the brainchild of women, and its success was mainly due to the leadership and planning of the director of women’s programs. The event’s purpose was to provide educational opportunities and broaden women’s horizons. From the start, one of its long-term goals was to fund a scholarship. To show just how serious they were, the event planners took steps that very day to create a scholarship fund with proceeds from the event.

Creative Options was an event conceived as a community service to provide an opportunity for women to become aware of the choices available to them for both career and personal needs. About 40 workshops featuring pertinent topics for women were offered each year that the event was held. The day was a time for women to broaden their horizons, to be stimulated, challenged and encouraged.

As the event grew in prominence through the years, the CLU women’s resource center forged partnerships with the American Association of University Women, Soroptimist and Westlake Women’s Club. The Aid Association for Lutherans, Lutheran Brotherhood and even Amgen Foundation provided financial support. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to get on board. However, those most directly affected were the ones who attended the event and especially those women selected to receive a scholarship.

From the outset, the scholarship was designated for women who had started but not finished their college education. Their personal stories told of the emotional support they had received from the women’s resource center as they strove to meet the demands of home, family and school. One student commented, “For me, it was more than just the money. It meant that I had a whole community of women behind me and my education.”

By April 1982, proceeds from the event provided sufficient funds to endow the Creative Options Scholarship. The scholarship was ultimately designed to serve reentry women students who are carrying a minimum of eight units and who have a 3.0 or above grade point average. The list of those who have received this scholarship is long and impressive. It might be even more impressive if we could look into their present lives to see just how their CLU education has changed their lives.