Architect's home
to be given to UA
FAYETTEVILLE -- The family home of the founder of the architecture program at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville will be donated to the university.
The Fayetteville home valued at $750,000 was designed by John G. Williams and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Williams is credited with founding UA's architecture program in 1946.
His daughter, Diana "Sue" Hein, said her gift to the university recognizes her father's legacy and her own ties to UA, where she earned three degrees, including a master's degree in music. Hein is leaving the home to UA in her will.
"I want my father's legacy to be recognized in this house that he designed, built and lived in," Hein said in a statement released by UA. "It signifies a full circle -- the way he built the architecture program at the University of Arkansas and this house and how this physical gift of a built house is being given to the school."
Williams was the only teacher of architecture courses at UA from 1946-50, helping architecture grow from a degree program to its own department and later a school within the university. He wrote a book published in 1984 giving the history of architecture education at UA.
This year UA's Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its founding.
More information about Hein's gift is to be announced later this year, according to UA.
Scholarship gift
for diversity head
FAYETTEVILLE -- A University of Arkansas, Fayetteville scholarship is being created in honor of Barbara Lofton, a longtime UA leader for diversity initiatives described by one alumna as a leading campus champion for Black students.
"This scholarship will be an enduring, meaningful resource that helps students from diverse backgrounds succeed," Matt Waller, dean of UA's Sam M. Walton College of Business, said in announcing the scholarship as a surprise to Lofton, according to the university.
Lofton leads the Walton College's Office of Diversity and Inclusion and has done so since creation of the office in 1994.
She is the college's assistant dean for diversity and inclusion.
Fundraising is ongoing for the scholarship, with the family of businessman Gerald Alley providing up to $50,000 in matching support.
Alley, a UA alumnus, and two of his children, Gina and Byron, praised Lofton.
"When I was in school, you were literally the biggest champion for Black students on campus -- no matter what college they were in," Gina Alley said, according to UA.
The Dr. Barbara A. Lofton Endowed Scholarship for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion will go to undergraduate students studying in the Walton College.
Depending on fundraising, the four-year, renewable award will be given out starting in the 2022-23 school year, a spokesman said.
Criteria for the award include academic distinction, financial need and "whether the student's ethnic, cultural, or geographic background, or demonstrated interest in a particular field of study, contributes to the diversity of the Walton College student body," Waller said in a statement.
Nursing students
pitch in on shots
FAYETTEVILLE -- About two dozen University of Arkansas, Fayetteville student nurses helped at a Wednesday covid-19 vaccination event on campus and about 36 were expected to administer vaccines at another campus event for workers, a university spokesman said Friday.
The director of UA's nursing school praised the students' effort.
"The students are excited about participating in this huge public health effort and collaborating with pharmacists and pharmacy students. I was very proud of their professionalism and how efficient they were in administering a large number of vaccines," Susan Patton, director of UA's Eleanor Mann School of Nursing, said in a statement Friday.
After the Wednesday event -- during which student nurses also were vaccinated -- the university planned to hold a larger-scale vaccination Saturday for workers.
The vaccine requires two doses administered weeks apart.
Students involved are working as part of their clinical training, said Kelsey Gilmet, a UA nursing instructor, though she said some students are volunteering on their personal time to take part.
Margo Leavitt, a 22-year-old senior nursing student from Fayetteville, helped at the event Wednesday.
"Honestly, it's a fun position to be in, to be giving a covid vaccine to someone," Leavitt said, describing those getting the shots Wednesday as "very excited and just thrilled to be given the opportunity" to get vaccinated.
"It really is a part of history," she added.