Promise Partners Rick and Melinda Torrison turn ‘I can’t’ into ‘I did’
“I can’t go.”
That was the answer former high school teacher Rick Torrison often heard when he asked his students about their college plans. Many were already working to support their families. College seemed too expensive and out of reach.
Years later, Rick and his wife, Melinda, are helping to change that answer. As Promise Partners, they’re ensuring high school graduates can attend San Jacinto College with tuition covered 100% through the Promise @ San Jac Scholarship.
“If you can create an opportunity for college to be available debt-free for perpetuity, who wouldn’t want that?” Rick said.
Driven to make a difference
Helping others has always driven the Torrisons. As a speaker and master coach, Rick helps people overcome limiting beliefs. Melinda, president/chief operating officer of Meador Staffing, links people to fulfilling work.
Their connection to San Jac runs deep. Melinda, her mother, and her brother all attended the College, and her father, Ben Meador, served on the Board of Trustees. Their son also earned an aerospace certification at San Jac’s EDGE Center.
If you can create an opportunity for college to be available debt-free for perpetuity, who wouldn’t want that?
Beyond their work with the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce and the Bridge Over Troubled Waters, they have long championed San Jac.
“Being an employer in the staffing industry, I know the lack of candidates — both people entering the workforce and skills,” Melinda said. “Being able to tap into [the talent San Jac develops] is significant.”
Rick agrees.
“From nursing to biotechnology, San Jac is never chasing the wave,” he said. “It’s riding the wave.”
Widening Promise’s ripple
Melinda saw Promise’s impact firsthand when a Meador Staffing intern proudly told
her she was a Promise Scholar and later became the first in her family to graduate
with a degree.
“San Jac does so much more than provide a free education,” Melinda said. “It provides avenues.”
In a community where only 25.75% of the population holds an associate degree or higher*, Promise is helping close the gap. Since 2020, more than 6,700 students — many the first in their families — have attended San Jac debt-free.
“There’s not a graduating senior in the taxing district who if they wanted to go to college couldn’t,” Rick said. “That’s on the table for 100% of seniors graduating. Each year, the ripple gets wider — people see this is for them as well.”
Promise @ San Jac is transforming not just individual lives but generations of families.
“If you leave San Jac with a certification or degree, you’re pretty much locked into a job if you want it,” Rick said. “That’s even with taking the Promise Scholarship off the table. The College provides amazing opportunities for everyone.”
Making a lasting Promise
What do you want to leave behind? For Rick and Melinda, their legacy is about more than financial success. It’s about changing futures.
Remembering the burden of his own student loans, Rick wants others to graduate debt-free.
“The dream you get to fulfill [as a Promise Partner] is a student who gets to graduate without debt,” he said.
“You’re here to serve — here for a greater purpose,” Melinda added. “With the Promise program, you’re going to give students a future for a lifetime. You’re providing scholarships for students who will one day have children and families. You’re changing a region.”
*Pasadena Economic Development Corporation
Learn how to become a Promise Partner
About San Jacinto College
Surrounded by monuments of history, evolving industries, maritime enterprises of today,
and the space age of tomorrow, San Jacinto College has served the people of East Harris
County, Texas, since 1961. The College is ranked second in the nation among more than
1,100 community colleges, as designated by the Aspen Institute and was named an Achieving
the Dream Leader College of Distinction in 2020. As a Hispanic-Serving Institution
that spans five campuses, plus an online college, San Jacinto College serves approximately
45,000 credit and non-credit students annually. It offers more than 200 degrees and
certificates across eight major areas of study that put students on a path to transfer
to four-year institutions or enter the workforce. The College is fiscally sound, holding
bond ratings of AA+ by Standard & Poor’s and Aa2 by Moody’s. San Jacinto College is
accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
