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Fordhams Initiate Longhorn Book Scholarship Fund
Books and other class materials can easily cost a student four to five hundred dollars or more each semester-an expense that can be quite considerable for the average student, let alone someone with a financial disadvantage. With the help of the new Longhorn Book Scholarship Fund, initiated by Scott (BBA 81) and Elizabeth Fordham, paying for books will no longer worry a large number of students.
"We felt that a book scholarship fund was a logical yet untapped opportunity to involve many more alumni in the support of student scholarships at UT," says Scott Fordham. "And we hope to build on the saying that 'every penny counts.'" Regardless of the gift level, he says, every dollar given to such a fund truly will make a difference. Participants in the Endowed Presidential Scholarship Program, the Fordhams realized that only a handful of the best-of-the-best students benefit from endowed scholarships. "Our goal for this book scholarship fund is to assist a broader base of students while also encouraging an affordable participation opportunity from the large UT alumni base," says Elizabeth, who earned her BBA in 1983 from SMU.
At the Fordhams' suggestion, the Houston chapter of the Texas Business Network took up the book scholarship fund as a fundraising project, contributing a portion of the proceeds from a golf tournament in August. (Recipients of book awards will not necessarily be business students.) The fund will be administered through the Ex-Students' Association (ESA) and enlists the cooperation of the University Co-Op. "The Co-Op will be reinvesting into the program money made from the sale of these books at the end of the semester," says Jim Boon, ESA executive director. "The seed money provided by the Fordhams is a great start, now we just need to build on that."
If you'd like to participate in the Longhorn Book Scholarship Fund, please contact Eleanor Moore at 512-471-8083.
For information on specific programs at the McCombs School, consult our contacts page. For media information, contact the Communications Director by phone at 512-471-3314 or by email at CommunicationsDirector@mccombs.utexas.edu.
