Gift to UALR to aid
finance students
A $100,000 gift to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock will help students majoring in finance with an emphasis in real estate pay for their educations, the university has announced.
Leslye Shellam, daughter of L. Dickson Flake, made the gift in her father's name, establishing the L. Dickson Flake Endowed Scholarship, according to a news release from the university.
Flake died this summer at 81 years old. He was one of four founding partners of Barnes, Quinn, Flake and Anderson, which later became known as Colliers International. It's the largest real estate company in Arkansas, Black schools said
to see more funds
A President Joe Biden administration would invest more than $70 billion in historically Black colleges and universities, and minority-serving institutions, as a part of efforts to address societal inequities that are based on race, the Biden campaign's national policy director told reporters earlier this month.
Biden has additionally "embraced" a proposal from U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to erase $10,000 of debt for every student debt holder in the U.S. during the pandemic, Biden campaign national policy director Stef Feldman told attendees of an Education Writers Association event.
Biden also wants to keep a closer eye on for-profit colleges, which he believes may not be delivering effective education, Feldman said. He wants to "first prove their value to the U.S. Department of Education" before being eligible for federal aid, Feldman said. Biden also wants to curb for-profit colleges' incentive to target recruiting efforts on veterans, potentially for enrollment in "programs that aren't delivering results."
according to the news release.
Tech set to unveil
new student union
The new Arkansas Tech University student union opens this week, the university announced.
It's a temporary student union, located in the old physical education building. Eventually, the university plans to build a student recreation center and union in a new building. The new student union opens Tuesday and will be open from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. daily.
The temporary union in the Hull building, funded by a $3.5 million construction contract, will provide students with "access to social activities such as table tennis, billiards, the latest Xbox and PlayStation video game systems, soft seating designed to encourage interaction and space for musical performances and presentations," according to the university's news release.
The union will also have a smoothie machine and a coffee station. Outside, it will have seating and a fire pit.
At least for now, occupancy will be limited and students will have to wear masks and distance from one another.
The opening ceremony for the union is by invitation-only because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.