YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – Two local philanthropists were honored at Youngstown State University on Thursday.

The area outside of the Financial Aid & Scholarships Office in Meshel Hall is now known as The Shorty & Elba Navarro Commons.

It’s named after Flor “Shorty” and Elba Navarro. The couple believes in hard work and giving back.

On Thursday, they were recognized for creating over $1.5 million in endowed scholarships for the university.

“I didn’t expect anything this nice. This is beautiful. It’s something very nice and I think it’s nice for the Hispanic community to come and see our name, somebody that is Latino, to have a name here,” Shorty said.

“The perfect couple for this common area to be named after is Shorty and Elba because no one has helped more students than they have,” said former YSU President Jim Tressel.

This year, over 50 YSU students are getting scholarship support from the Navarros.

Domenic Weser contributed to this report.