 Spring 2000 UNC-CH Development
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Wards
and Shufords Create Carolina Scholars Awards Two alumni families with deep ties to the University have funded academic scholarships that will attract the best students to study at Carolina — one of its top priorities. David Ward ’57 and his wife Elizabeth Reese Ward ’57 have established the David L. and Elizabeth Reese Ward jr. Carolina Scholars Fund for a student from eastern North Carolina. A. Pope Shuford ’62 and his wife Peggy established the Shuford Carolina Scholars Fund for a North Carolina student. The Ward and Shuford scholars will join more than 75 other Carolina Scholars in the fall of 2000. There are 34 Carolina Scholars funds as of February 2000, eight of which support two or more scholarships. Several are being temporarily funded by chancellor’s funds until the University receives more endowed funds. Introduced during the Bicentennial Campaign, Carolina Scholars awards fund a substantial portion of college costs. Under guidelines established for Carolina’s new campaign, a $150,000 fund endows tuition, plus room and board for an in-state student. A $300,000 endowed fund generates income to support an out-of-state student. Along with the Morehead and other academic scholarships, Carolina Scholars enhance the intellectual environment and allow the University to compete with the nation’s top-ranked universities for the best students. In 1996, the University’s board of trustees endorsed Chancellor Hooker’s goal to award 250 academic scholarships to incoming freshmen — a goal that remains to be met. Students who are offered Carolina Scholars awards often have competing bids from other colleges or universities. A recent survey of 370 top students who were accepted at Carolina but enrolled elsewhere revealed that 44 percent would have chosen Carolina if they had been offered an academic scholarship of at least tuition and fees. "We either want a mediocre university or an excellent one," said David Ward, president and senior attorney of Ward & Smith in New Bern. "Carolina Scholars was important to Michael Hooker as a way to attract the best students to Carolina," he said, "And students with outstanding academic credentials strengthen the University in many ways." A business major, Ward said that the College of Arts and Sciences needs support from a cross-section of graduates. "The arts and sciences calling was a big part of my undergraduate experience. We want to make it better for current and future students," said Ward. Ward’s service to Carolina includes leadership positions on the Arts and Sciences Foundation Board, Board of Trustees, Board of Visitors, the Morehead Scholarship Program, the National Development Council and the General Alumni Association. He received Carolina’s William R. Davie Award in 1997. The couple’s three children are Carolina graduates. David’s father, David Livingstone Ward, graduated from Carolina in 1924. For Pope Shuford, who also was a business major, it was simple encouragement from his wife Peggy, a Converse College alumna, and good friend Tim Burnett ’62 that made the Shuford Carolina Scholars Fund possible. With three children who are Carolina graduates, as well as his father Harley Shuford ’34, family support of the University is second nature. From the James M. Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence and the Morehead Foundation, to the schools of Journalism and Mass Communication and Social Work, the Shufords have contributed to important academic causes. "The University is one of the state’s greatest assets, and Chapel Hill is our flagship university," said Shuford, chairman of STM Industries in Hickory. "Our Carolina graduates are good for the state and for the nation. It helps us all to bring the best students here and provide them with the best possible educational environment." |
