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Masseys Give UCA $1M for Scholarship Program

2 min read

Rick and Anne Massey of Little Rock have given the University of Central Arkansas $1 million to endow and establish a scholarship program for first-generation college students.

The Arch Ford Endowed Scholarship will “support the retention of first-generation college students through need-based scholarships,” the university said in a news release. The program is named for Arch Ford, a 1930 graduate of Arkansas State Teachers College, now called UCA. 

Ford was commissioner of the Arkansas Department of Education from 1953-78. He received a 1992 Distinguished Alumni Award from UCA.

“Our desire is to increase the retention rates of Arkansans who are exemplary students but who need help financially, and Mr. Ford devoted his life to helping the same constituency,” Rick Massey said in the release. “We couldn’t think of anyone better to honor with this gift than Arch Ford.”

Recipients will be designated as Arch Ford Scholars. UCA said it will provide a one-to-one match for all scholarships awarded.

“We are incredibly appreciative of this gift that the Massey family has provided,” UCA President Houston Davis said in the release. “Arch Ford helped to set the stage for increasing the educational capacity of our state. This gift continues his legacy.”

In response to the Masseys’ donation, Joe Ford, son of Arch Ford, and his wife, Jo Ellen Ford, of Little Rock, made a $250,000 donation to the scholarship program.

“My father would be highly honored to be recognized in this manner,” Joe Ford said. “I can think of nothing better than helping students get an education as an Arch Ford Scholar. He wanted everyone to have the opportunity for an education.”

Rick Massey is a 1981 UCA graduate and chairman of Bear State Bank of Little Rock, which last year agreed to sell to Arvest Bank of Fayetteville for $391 million.

Anne Massey is a 1983 graduate of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Arkansas. In November, the Massey Family Charitable Foundation donated $2 million to the Advance Arkansas scholarship initiative at the UA.

Joe Ford, along with his son, Scott, owns Westrock Asset Management LLC of Little Rock and Westrock Coffee Co. of North Little Rock. He is also a former CEO of Alltel Corp. of Little Rock, the publicly traded wireless telephone company that sold to Verizon in 2008. The Fords are investors in Bear State Bank.

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