AC Golden, a brewery in the Molson Coors Beverage Company’s craft beer division Tenth & Blake, has created a Brewing Change Scholarship Fund at Colorado State University to boost diversity in the brewing industry.
The $50,000 gift will create an endowment that will initially provide a $2,500 scholarship annually to a student in CSU’s Fermentation Science and Technology Program. The recipient will also be eligible for paid internship opportunities with the Molson Coors brewing network in Colorado: AC Golden, Coors Brewing and Blue Moon RiNo.
According to the gift agreement, the Brewing Change Scholarship will be awarded to an undergraduate FST major from a traditionally underrepresented population who has a demonstrated financial need and at least a 3.0 GPA. Preference will be given to students who are involved in one of CSU’s Student Diversity Programs and Services.
“Boosting diversity is something that the brewing industry has been working toward, and this is a huge step for AC Golden Brewing to fund this,” said Jeff Callaway, associate director of the FST Program. “We greatly appreciate this donation, and it certainly aligns with CSU’s diversity efforts.”
Increasing awareness
“Diversity is a big issue in many industries, but it’s especially big in craft brewing,” added Paul Verdu, head of Tenth & Blake. “We believe that education is the key to unlocking opportunity, but there needs to be awareness of that opportunity. Long term, this program will help people who might not be aware that brewing is a career option.”
Callaway said CSU alumnus Jeff Cornell, the general manager at AC Golden, played a key role in securing the donation and creating the scholarship.
Scholarship recipients will be selected by a faculty committee in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. Scholarship applications are available online on RAMweb, and the deadline to apply is 11 p.m. on March 1, 2021. To apply, students must go to RAMweb, log in using their eID, and then select the “CSU Scholarship Application” link.
Tenth & Blake created similar scholarships at Oregon State University and Middle Tennessee State University, which are located near Tenth & Blake breweries.
The FST Program is in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, part of CSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences.
