As a scholarship coordinator in the Office of Multicultural Student Success, Christopher Love provides scholarship opportunities for first-year students, underrepresented populations and students demonstrating financial need at DePaul. (DePaul University/Randall Spriggs)Whether you are an incoming freshman, an undergraduate, or a graduate student, there are countless opportunities and options for support at DePaul. Christopher Love, the scholarship coordinator and operations manager in the Office of Multicultural Student Success, strives to ensure undergraduate students and first-generation college students receive the financial support and find the resources they need.
“Coming from a single-parent home and a low socioeconomic status background, I was a scholarship student throughout high school and college,” Love says. “I understand where many of my scholars are coming from. Being in a position to help students offset some tuition costs appealed to me because I’m able to give back and support the next generation of leaders.”
After completing a master’s in higher education and student affairs from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Love moved to Chicago and joined DePaul in January 2018. In his current role, he oversees a portfolio of 12 scholarships totaling approximately $720,000.
“I support incoming, first-year and current DePaul students,” he says.
In addition to providing information to students and parents, Love and his team review applications and interview prospective scholars. Beyond assisting students with the information and application processes, Love also helps students stay on track to maintain their scholarship funds. He monitors their academic standing, for example, and meets with students at least once a quarter.
“The goal is to have 85 percent of our scholars in good standing with above a 2.7 grade point average, show a stronger attendance rate at our monthly workshops, and meet with us individually at least once per quarter,” Love says. “Since we first started scholarship ‘status reports’ and created these processes, the number of at-risk students has decreased, which is great, and it helps us increase student persistence and retention.”
Connecting with students and supporting them as they navigate through college are driving factors for Love.
“Being able to see students tackle adversity and figure out the next step to get their degree has been rewarding,” he says. “As a black male, supporting black and brown students and hearing their success stories is truly gratifying. There is no better feeling than to see them navigate DePaul, graduate with their degree, and attend graduate school or obtain full-time jobs.”