Tickets are on sale for a special benefit featuring San Diego Mesa College alumna Annette Bening. “An Evening with Annette Bening, to Benefit the San Diego Promise” will be held at the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park on Thursday, Sept. 20 starting at 6:30 p.m. The event comes as the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) is dramatically expanding the number of students who will benefit from the San Diego Promise, which waves enrollment fees and provides other support for eligible students. 
Bening, a four-time Academy Award nominee, is best known for her starring roles in films such as “Being Julia,” “The American President,” and “American Beauty.” A San Diego native, Bening, says her time as a drama student at Mesa College helped prepare her for a highly successful acting career.
SDCCD Chancellor Constance M. Carroll says the district is thrilled to have Bening, a San Diego Promise donor, headline its September 20 gala. Chancellor Carroll says the event is part of an expanded public-private investment in the San Diego Promise, which will now fund the first two years of enrollment fees for all full-time students who are recent high school graduates.
“The San Diego Community College District is making a commitment to thousands of first-time students to fund two years of college if they commit to taking a full load and completing their education in two years,” Chancellor Carroll said. “To deliver on this promise the district is asking the community’s support.”
Chancellor Carroll says that for 2018-19, the San Diego Community College District is expected to get an influx of state funding, which will fund the first year of the program for new students. Philanthropic support, however, is needed to fund enrollment fees and book grants for each student’s second year.
Launched as a pilot program in 2016 with 186 students, the San Diego Promise enrolled more than 700 students at San Diego City, Mesa, and Miramar colleges this past year. During the upcoming 2018-19 academic year, the SDCCD expects to add several thousand new full-time students to the program, which is intended to ensure that no deserving local students are denied the opportunity to earn a college education due to lack of resources.
Presenting sponsors of the event include Roger Frey and Seidler Equity Partners. For sponsorship and ticket information, visit:www.sdccd.edu/promise/gala