The Goldman Sachs Foundation (GSF) announced its award of a $1 million grant to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) at a Faculty Club reception held last night to honor HSF Scholars at Harvard.

The grant will go toward establishing an HSF alumni network and HSF Scholar chapters at 15 universities, including Harvard, according to HSF president and CEO Sara M. Tucker.

One of five chapters to be started this spring, the Harvard HSF Chapter will consist of the 26 Scholars who are currently enrolled at Harvard. The HSF will also form chapters at Stanford, Berkeley and Columbia universities and the University of Texas at Austin.

"This is a huge thing for Harvard," said William R. Fitzsimmons `67, Harvard College dean of admissions. "It's a signal to the world."

The HSF Scholars honored last night are among the 609 Scholars the HSF has helped to attend Harvard over the last 24 years, collectively representing approximately $700,000 in spending, Fitzsimmons added.

Nationally, the HSF has awarded scholarships to 40,000 Hispanic students, totaling over $58 million since its founding in 1975, according to Tucker.

"Our mission is to strengthen America through enabling Latino education," Tucker said. "In our community, so many children believe '[Financial aid is] for someone better than me.'"

Networking and mentoring between past, present and future HSF Scholars was the key theme of the evening. Tucker emphasized the importance of keeping Hispanic secondary school students in school and encouraging them to apply to college.