A.L. Chilton Foundation Gift Supports EMPOWER Special Education Program

Photo by Whit Pruitt

EMPOWER students Grant Alley, Mary Borman and Nick Lange

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The A.L. Chilton Foundation in Dallas reached a $1 million giving milestone with a recent $500,000 gift to the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas.

Their newest gift supports Campaign Arkansas with the creation of the A.L. Chilton Foundation EMPOWER Arkansas Endowed Scholarship, the A.L. Chilton Foundation EMPOWER Arkansas Operational Endowment and the A.L. Chilton Foundation Advance Arkansas Endowed Scholarship in Special Education. The foundation made another $500,000 gift in 2014 to the A.L. Chilton/Patti Bell Brown/Bonnie Bell Harding Endowed Faculty Fellowship in Special Education.

EMPOWER, which stands for “Educate, Motivate, Prepare, Opportunity, Workplace Readiness, Employment, Responsibility,” offers a four-year non-degree college experience program for students who have cognitive disabilities. It incorporates functional academics, independent living, employment, social and leisure skills, and health and wellness skills in a public university setting with the goal of producing self-sufficient young adults.

“The A.L. Chilton Foundation has been incredibly supportive of our special education program for several years,” said Tom Smith, University Professor of special education. “This new gift will enable the EMPOWER program to grow and become an integral part of the university. I cannot thank Bonnie Harding, Patti Brown and the A.L. Chilton Foundation enough for their support.”

The A.L. Chilton Foundation EMPOWER Arkansas Endowed Scholarship will be funded with $250,000 of the foundation’s gift and will create financial assistance for students enrolled in the EMPOWER program. Another $200,000 will support the A.L. Chilton Foundation EMPOWER Arkansas Operational Endowment, which will provide funding to help sustain and grow the program, and $50,000 will establish the A.L. Chilton Advance Arkansas Endowed Scholarship in Special Education.

The foundation’s Advance Arkansas scholarship will give preference to an undergraduate student in the special education program in the College of Education and Health Professions who is affiliated with the EMPOWER program in a mentor or internship role. The scholarship will support new, returning and transfer students from Arkansas who exhibit financial need, records of academic success and a strong desire to complete their degree at the U of A.

“The A.L. Chilton Foundation is thrilled to support the EMPOWER program and Advance Arkansas through this gift to Campaign Arkansas,” said Patti Brown, a member of the foundation’s distribution committee. “We were moved when we heard firsthand from the EMPOWER students and learned what an impact this program has on their lives, and we knew we wanted to be a part of their future success.”

“It is important to the A.L. Chilton Foundation to create more opportunities for students to become a part of the Razorback family,” added Bonnie Harding, a member of the foundation’s distribution committee. “Giving to the EMPOWER program through scholarship and program support and funding an Advance Arkansas scholarship accomplishes this by making the University of Arkansas more accessible for students.”

Brown and Harding are both graduates of the College of Education and Health Professions and hold bachelor’s degrees in education. Together with their husbands, they serve as members of the Campaign Arkansas Steering Committee, the College of Education and Health Professions campaign committee and are all members of the Arkansas Alumni Association and Chancellor’s Society. They are also included in Towers of Old Main, a giving society for the university’s most generous benefactors and are counted as Thoroughreds for their consecutive years of giving to the university.

The A.L. Chilton Foundation is an independent foundation set up in 1945 in Texas by Arthur L. and Leonore Chilton. Mr. Chilton, who owned Sky Broadcasting Service, a chain of radio stations in Texas and Arkansas, died in 1973. The foundation’s primary funding interests are in the areas of health care, religious organizations and education.

About Campaign Arkansas: Campaign Arkansas is the ongoing capital campaign for the University of Arkansas to raise private gift support for the university’s academic mission and other key priorities. The campaign’s goal is to raise $1 billion to support academic and need-based scholarships, technology enhancements, new and renovated facilities, undergraduate, graduate and faculty research, study abroad opportunities and other innovative programs. The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in a wide spectrum of disciplines as it works to fulfill its public land-grant mission to serve Arkansas and beyond as a partner, resource and catalyst.

About the College of Education and Health Professions: The College of Education and Health Professions offers advanced academic degrees as well as professional development opportunities and learning communities in service to the education and health systems of Arkansas and beyond. The college works closely with educational leaders across the state to continuously improve systems and educational outcomes for students and with health-care leaders to improve those systems and health outcomes for everyone.

The college is unique because it focuses on two very important areas — education and health. The college prepares teachers for all levels of public school, school administrators, school researchers and policymakers, and special education teachers. It also prepares adult educators, professionals for higher education and professionals in human resource and workforce development.

On the health side, the college prepares nurses, speech-language pathologists, health educators and administrators, recreation professionals, rehabilitation counselors and human performance researchers.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.