Hall of Famer Joe Morgan awards scholarships to Cal State Hayward kinesiology students

Baseball Hall of Famer and California State University, Hayward alumnus Joe Morgan made his annual visit to the university and met on March 20 with five recipients of scholarships from the fund that Morgan established to help kinesiology students in the mid-1980s.

Morgan, 58, also gave the university's educational foundation a check for $15,000 to add to that fund, which stands at $165,000.

The current ESPN broadcaster and Oakland native told the students-among seven who will receive about $1,000 in financial assistance-that "education is about the most important thing an individual can do."

He admitted that receiving his college degree from CSUH during 1990 graduation ceremonies might have been more important to him than being inducted into baseball's "Hall of Fame" because he promised his mother that he would earn his degree after his playing career. The two-time National League "Most Valuable Player" with the Cincinnati Reds said his parents were emotional when he received that degree at the age of 46.

The scholarship recipients who met with Morgan were Heather Demarest of Alameda; Michael Fuller of Oakland; Denise Hall of Stockton; Makia White of Richmond; and Renee "Gigi" Miranda of Chestnut Hill, MA. Two others-Robert Schmidt and Cynthia Walton of Hayward-had other commitments and could not attend.