FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A $100,000 gift by an alumna and her husband will endow the Sandra and Robert Connor Access Arkansas Scholarship at the University of Arkansas. Such scholarships will provide need-based support to academically qualified students.

Sandra Connor is a University of Arkansas graduate and her husband, Bob, is a University of North Texas alumnus. In spite of this difference of alma mater location, the couple have been generous supporters of the University of Arkansas in large part because of the great work they’ve seen on campus. Sandra is a 1965 graduate from the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences where she majored in sociology and social welfare. She is vice chair of the university's Board of Advisors, and she and Bob are members of the university’s Central Arkansas Advisory Committee. Their daughter, Laura, also graduated from the university with a degree in communications and social work. Sandra and Bob said the experiences have given both of them an inside look into the needs and the many successes of the University of Arkansas.

“We want to help students who otherwise would not be able to attend the University of Arkansas for financial reasons,” she said. “Because of the positive experience that my daughter and I received at the university, we are pleased to make this scholarship available to deserving students.”

The Connors also previously established a scholarship for graduate students in Fulbright College.

Sandra and Bob divide their time between residences in Little Rock and Dallas. Bob is an investor and Sandra devotes her time to the Chi Omega Foundation Board, the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Board, Delta Trust and Bank Women's Advisory Council and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging Community Advisory Board at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

“We are grateful to Sandra and Bob for their generous gift to support an area so critical to student success,” said Brad Choate, vice chancellor for University Advancement. “Too often, students who are qualified to attend the University of Arkansas lack the financial resources to attend. Access Arkansas serves an underserved population of young men and women who may not qualify for the highest levels of academic-based support and need this scholarship to obtain their college education.”