The Vietnamese Culture and Science Association (VCSA) and the LePham family are pleased to invite applicants for the 2009 Nicholas C. LePham Citizenship and Public Service Award. The LePham family and committee is looking to award this scholarship to an aspiring Vietnamese-American student who is able to demonstrate strong civic participation and active citizenship within the community. Changes and improvements can only take place when future leaders organize within the community to address problems. We seek to empower young Vietnamese-Americans to attend college, and to pursue their dreams for further community service and public works.

Applicants will be judged according to their merits in academic, community involvement, leadership, and character. We strongly encourage ALL eligible Vietnamese-American youths to apply. Selection will be conducted by a panel of Vietnamese-American young professionals. Five (5) finalists will be interviewed in mid to late July 2009, and one (1) winner will be announced by August 2nd.

Eligibility: Any high school senior in Houston metropolitan area who is of Vietnamese descent and currently applying to college

Scholarships: $1,000 will be awarded
To Apply: see instructions on application form
Deadline: postmark by July 10th, 2009

About Nicholas C. LePham

Nicholas ChiLinh LePham is a graduate of Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. Mr. LePham was born in Houston, TX, and spent his childhood there before moving abroad. However, he has always considered Houston his home and would like to give back to it, joining with most of his extended family that lives there in being active members of the Vietnamese community. He’s also a passionate political activist, whose past experience includes work on the Presidential campaign of US Senator John F. Kerry (MA), the Congressional campaign of US Rep. Nick Lampson (TX-Sugar Land). Mr. Lepham also spent the last year working for the Presidential campaign of then Senator Hillary Clinton (NY) and for the US Senate campaign of Bruce Lunsford in Kentucky. He currently works at the Center for American Progress, a think-tank founded by President Clinton’s former chief of staff John Podesta that promotes progressive ideas and provides policy research to the government. His goals with the scholarship are the following:

• Encourage civic participation, leadership and service among Vietnamese/Vietnamese- American students in the community
• Foster awareness of Vietnamese/Vietnamese-American culture and history
• Promote the interests of the Vietnamese/Vietnamese-American student bodies