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A new scholarship program has been established for Maui County students interested in pursuing a career in education and with a strong commitment to environmental and social justice.
The Victor C. Pellegrino Memorial Scholarship offers $1,000 awards to college undergraduate or graduate students. Applications open Feb. 1., and the deadline is March 31. Award recipients will be announced in May. To apply, go to nohoanafarm.com.
The scholarship was established by Noheʻana Farm and Pellegrino ʻOhana to honor the legacy of Victor Pellegrino, professor emeritus, educator, writer, author, poet, chef, farmer, world traveler and family man. He passed away Jan. 9, 2024. He was 87.
A New York native, Pellegrino was of Italian-American heritage. He met his wife-to-be Wallette Garcia when they were graduate students at Marquette University. They moved to Maui in 1967, and he and friends build the family home in Waikapū in 1968.
Hōkūao Pellegrino said his father, a 30-year educator and retired Maui College professor, championed higher education. He retired as professor emeritus in 1995. He taught writing and literature.
“He strongly believed it was important for our keiki to pursue degrees here on Maui and abroad with the hope for them to return to Maui and positively contribute to our community,” Pellegrino said. “He strongly believed it was important for our keiki to pursue degrees here on Maui and abroad with the hope for them to return to Maui and positively contribute to our community,” he said.
The Pellegrino family plans to make the scholarship an annual event.
The last 25 years of Pellegrino’s life were dedicated to ʻāina-based education at the family farm, Hōkūao Pellegrino said.
“There was such an outpouring of aloha and support to our ʻohana after he passed, especially with our farm, Nohoʻana Farm,” he said. “So we felt it important to honor his legacy and to give back to the community he came to love and care about through a memorial scholarship in his name for college students.”
