The Bow Tie Bash turned 5 on June 3 inside the Clinton Presidential Center, and so it felt safe finally for honoree Skip Rutherford to admit something.
"When Dean Kumpuris started this program, I had reservations. I did not know whether it would be a success. But I will tell you, through his work, through Jason's [Hamilton] work, through Eddie Drilling's and Ronnie's [Dedman] and AT&T's work, it has been nothing but extraordinary," said the dean of the Clinton School of Public Service. "And when you have students coming to your school who are Arkansas Commitment alums you realize just how important it is."
Arkansas Commitment was started by Kumpuris and other civic and corporate leaders in Little Rock in 1999. It hand-picks academically talented black high school students in central Arkansas, mentors them, attempts to raise their expectations, and then, in a very practical way, guides them through the college recruitment and financial aid processes.
As a result, this year's 31 graduating high school seniors will represent the area from one coast (Braylon Camper at the University of California at Los Angeles) to the other (Dasia James and Marcellis Wilburn at Howard University in Washington). Four will matriculate at the highly selective Washington University in St. Louis.
"I'm a graduate of the University of Arkansas. [My wife] Billie and I met there," Rutherford said, "and I am very clearly a fan of the University of Arkansas, but as Dr. Kumpuris knows, it does my heart very good to look to my right and to see Kenyon [College], and to see UCLA, to see University of Richmond and to see Washington University in St. Louis and others, coming out of Little Rock, Arkansas."
Guests to the fundraiser, roughly 200, helped raise $37,000, and dined on heavy hors d'oeuvres and sipped wine and beer as they mingled.
Since 2010, 219 students have graduated from the program, securing about $5.7 million in scholarships and financial aid each year they're in college. Nine have been Gates Millennium Scholars, a scholarship program for minorities funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
High Profile on 06/14/2015