Members of the UALR Alumni Board of Directors will award a record 22 scholarships next spring, thanks to the generosity of alumni and friends who have made tax-deductible gifts to the university.

Students can begin applying after Jan. 1 for the alumni scholarships, as well as other UALR private scholarships made possible by individual donors. The deadline for these scholarships is March 1, 2013.

LaSheena Gordon, a graduate of Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock, received an Alumni Association award this year and is glad she chose UALR.

“The smaller class sizes and personal one-on-one lessons afforded to me by talented professors, as well as the financial help through scholarships and private donors, have all directly helped me land contracted positions to teach voice to our youth in Little Rock. I was also able to land an audition to sing professionally with the Memphis Opera Company,” said Gordon, a music major.

Record attendance and support of the UALR Alumni Association’s signature event, “Taste of,” is credited for increasing the association’s scholarship endowment to $420,000 in the past few years.

Other factors have been the establishment of endowed funds like the Elaine Eubank Endowed Scholarship, the Bailey Leadership Award, the Alfred Williams Endowed Scholarship, and the E. Grainger and Francis Williams Endowed Scholarship.

“These major endowed funds sustain the effort and have helped each of our recipients graduate with their first degree from UALR.” said Rebecca Ward, president of the UALR Alumni Board of Directors. “I’ve challenged our alumni to help raise the money to fund three more awards by this spring.”

The Alumni Board of Directors received word of a $2,000 matching gift earlier this fall to increase the number of book awards given from four to eight.

“I’m pleased to report that our board members immediately met the match,” Ward said.

Individuals driving with a current Trojan Collegiate License Plate as their official state of Arkansas license plate promote the university and help fund the program.

“Collegiate plates cost an additional $35 per year, $25 of which goes to the Alumni Association Scholarship Fund, and they are tax deductible,” said Paul Nolte, the alumni board’s Scholarship Committee chair. “Give us your current license plate number and expiration date, and we will send you a reminder and instructions when it’s time to renew.”

University alumni and development offices will be open until 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 21, to receive year-end gifts made in person. Donors may also go online at https://ualr.edu/development/give/ to designate a year-end gift by the Dec. 31 tax deadline.

For more information on how to apply for alumni scholarships, go to the UALR Alumni Scholarship page.