CHICAGO, Ill. — The University of Illinois announced it is establishing an endowed scholarship honoring a University of Illinois at Chicago student’s mother at its regular Board of Trustees meeting today (May 22).

U of I President B. Joseph White and Board Chairman Lawrence C. Eppley said an endowed scholarship fund had been created in the name of Rosa Trevino, whose daughter, Lucy, was a member of the UIC Class of 2008. The $1,000 annual scholarship will be given to a UIC student chosen by the Chancellor.

Lucy Trevino, who graduated from UIC with a degree of bioengineering on May 10, has spinal muscular atrophy, a rare degenerative disease that takes away a person’s ability to walk by time they reach their teen years. Lucy’s condition makes it necessary for her to use a wheelchair.

Lucy’s mother, Rosa, served as Lucy’s personal assistant during the daughter’s six-year college career. Rosa accompanied Lucy to school on the train each morning, spent all day in her classes with her, and then the two took the train home together to suburban Berwyn.

Rosa’s devotion to her daughter and Lucy’s determination to earn the UIC degree were featured in a Chicago Tribune front-page Sunday edition story on Mother’s Day, May 11. It described how Rosa sat through “2,100 hours of 51 classes, countless study sessions and hour-long train rides back and forth, every day.”

President White said Lucy and Rosa Trevino were inspirational both to UIC faculty and students, as well as the many Chicagoans who read their story.

“We were moved by the value Lucy and Rosa Trevino placed on a college education and the sacrifices a mother made so her daughter could fulfill her educational dream,” White said. “We are honoring the extraordinary effort of Rosa Trevino.”

Chairman Eppley said he hoped the scholarship would show others that with the right support higher education is accessible to almost everyone.

“We created this scholarship to honor Rosa Trevino for her dedication and as an example to other families, particularly those with special-needs students,” Eppley said. “UIC has a great tradition of first-generation college students, and our Urbana-Champaign campus was a pioneer in handicapped accessibility for students.”

Lucy’s younger brother, Hugo, also has spinal muscular atrophy. He’s a freshman in architecture at the U of I in Urbana-Champaign.