WesternU celebrates Board of Trustees Scholars
Western University of Health Sciences’ Board of Trustees Scholarship provides support and encouragement to future leaders in the health professions. Beginning with the “First Five” cohort in 2022, WesternU has awarded 18 scholarships across four award years totaling nearly $1.7 million.
WesternU administrators, Board of Trustees members, faculty, staff, students and supporters gathered on April 9, 2026, for a dinner honoring Board of Trustees Scholars in Pomona, California.
The path to a high-quality health sciences education can be demanding, and for many students, financial support can make a critical difference between aspiration and achievement, said WesternU President Robin Farias-Eisner, MD, PhD, MBA. When we invest in students, we do more than reduce barriers, we open doors for them, he said.
“Tonight we celebrate our Board of Trustees Scholars with enormous pride. You represent excellence, dedication and purpose, and you have distinguished yourselves through hard work, perseverance, and a clear commitment to lives of meaning and service,” Farias-Eisner said. “Humanism is not simply a principle we speak about. It is a value we strive to live through compassion, dignity, respect, service, and a recognition of the whole person. Our Scholars embody that very spirit. Your achievements give us confidence not only in the future of health care, but in the kind of health care future you will create. To our Scholars, please know how proud we are of you. To your families, mentors, faculty, and all who have supported you along the way, thank you for helping make this journey possible. And to our Trustees, thank you again for investing in these remarkable students, and in the future that they represent.”
The WesternU Board of Trustees created a $6 million endowed scholarship in 2021 to help remove financial barriers for students and expand access to graduate health sciences and the health professions workforce.
The Hon. Consuelo M. Callahan, LLM, JD, WesternU Board of Trustees Chair, said the Board of Trustees Scholars program continues to grow in scale and impact and deepens the sense of community among Scholars. This is more than just a scholarship program, it is a community of support, of mentoring, engagement and resources designed to help our Scholars thrive and graduate as leaders.
“What makes this program truly special is not only who we bring in, but who they become. Our Scholars are expected to lead with purpose in their academic and professional journeys, serve others, particularly in underserved and health-challenged communities, and mentor future Scholars, creating a cycle of opportunity and impact,” Callahan said. “Our Scholars are ambassadors for WesternU’s mission, the values of this Board, and the belief that education can transform not just individual lives but entire communities. In many ways they represent the future of health care: to be more inclusive, to be more compassionate, and to be more connected to the communities they serve.”
Each Scholar in attendance was introduced by a representative from their college, and they in turn introduced their guests.
First-year College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific student Cailin Callahan is a 2025-26 BOT Scholar. She said she enjoyed the evening and loved hearing the “why” behind the creation of the BOT Scholars program.
“It makes me feel extra blessed and grateful to have this opportunity,” Callahan said. “I feel grateful to be here and to meet the faces that are putting their faith in me and the other students here. It’s very special.”
Receiving the BOT scholarship is the main driver of her education.
“I don’t know if I would be able to do this without the scholarship,” Callahan said. “This is the main source of funding for my education. This support is truly bringing me towards my purpose.”
COMP-Northwest student Martin Allums is one of the “First Five” BOT Scholars from the inaugural cohort in 2022. He will graduate in May and enter a psychiatry residency at Oregon Health & Science University. His mission is to stay in Oregon and work with underrepresented populations in uplifting mental and behavioral health.
Allums remembered his first day at COMP-Northwest. Although this was his dream school, he didn’t have family there and he was filled with anxiety. What helped him get through those early feelings of doubt was talking with WesternU Oregon Vice Provost Dr. Mirabelle Fernandes Paul and the sense of belonging that the scholarship gave him.
“I’m so grateful for everything the Board has done to create this scholarship and the mission it represents,” Allums said. “That’s an important change the scholarship made for me. I realized we all belong here. I belong here.”
