Rush and Linda Harding have pledged $500,000 to benefit the Norbert O. Schedler Honors College at the University of Central Arkansas.
The Hardings are alumni of the university. Rush Harding served on its board of trustees for 21 years and was chairman three times. He is co-founder and CEO of Crews & Associates Inc. of Little Rock.
"Nothing has impacted our lives and the lives of our family as much as UCA," Rush Harding said in a news release. "Linda and I are so pleased to make this gift, and we look forward to supporting our alma mater in a meaningful way for years to come."
Established in 1982, the Schedler Honors College has 300 students with an average ACT of over 29 and average high school GPA over 4.0, according to UCA.
The university said that while the Hardings' pledge is unrestricted, the college sees the gift as "providing great opportunities for Travel Abroad Grants (TAG), which support students interested in participating in trips organized by UCA's study abroad office." Other honors college programs, such as Undergraduate Research Grants for Education (URGE) and Experiential Learning Funds (ELF), are likely to benefit, according to UCA.
The Hardings have contributed to other UCA programs.
In 2002, the couple established the Holloway-Hicks Scholarship to benefit African-American students. In 2004, they gave more than $1.4 million to UCA — the single largest gift in university history at that time. UCA used the money to support student scholarships and to build Harding Centennial Plaza.
