La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotarian Cynthia Villis passed away on July 10 having experienced medical challenges for many months.
Cynthia has been a Rotarian since 1997 and very active not only at the club level but also at the district level in a number of programs and projects. In one significant program at the district level, she engaged our district from the beginning of the establishment of the Kroc Peace Center at the University of San Diego in 2001. Her most consequential activities with the Peace Center involved recruiting, interviewing, processing, and mentoring 38 Rotary Grant Scholars from 22 developing countries all of whom received Master’s Degrees in a Peace Studies field from USD. Rotary Foundation grants totaled $1,029,400 and USD has always provided a full tuition waiver for each Rotary scholar.
Another impactful program in which Cynthia has had significant responsibility has been Afghan Youth Connect. This was initially funded with a $450,000 Grant from the US Dept. of State secured by a grant written Cynthia Villis. This started with setting up internet connected computer labs in 5 public high school in Jalalabad and eventually expanded to most public high schools in that city. In addition to learning computer skills and improving their English, both boy and girl students learn about social responsibility, protecting the environment and being good citizens generally. Ongoing efforts include arranging Zoom calls between students in Afghanistan and students in the US. The local Taliban have given permission to keep this program running for both boys and girls. To date, more than 50,000 Afghan high school students have participated in this program—more than enough to fill PETCO Park.
Cynthia's impact will be felt for years to come. We will certainly miss her energy, leadership and passion that she brought to not only Rotary but to the world. May she rest in peace.