A group of UALR alumni from the 1990s gathered in the Washington home of former Donaghey Scholar Jeff Dutton recently to celebrate the endowment of the Stonewall Scholarship.

The Washington-area alums raised $4,400 for the scholarship this year, allowing it to reach endowment status. The group presented the first scholarship award of $2,000 to political science major H.L Moody for the spring semester. Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, was a special guest at the party.

Hosting the party were Dutton, director of the Office of the Pacific Basin in the International Trade Administration; Bryan Goodman, director of product communications at the American Chemistry Council; and 1990 graduate Adam Essex of the Department of Education in Washington.

Dutton and Goodman never knew each other on the UALR campus even though they graduated in the same class. But when each joined the same running club in Washington and realized their connection, both decided to join forces to support their alma mater.

In 2004, they established the Stonewall Scholarship, raising about $2,000 a year to benefit UALR students. They have reached out to other UALR alumni living and working in the D.C. area as well as their own circle of friends who have never been to Arkansas.