Alum Pledges $6M for UA’s Student Success Center

Crown Bakeries of Nashville CEO Cordia Harrington, a University of Arkansas alumna who donated $6 million to the school. 

Crown Bakeries of Nashville CEO Cordia Harrington, a University of Arkansas alumna, has pledged $6 million to the university in support of its new Student Success Center.

In recognition of the donation, which will help the university expand student-focused programming and resources, the center is being renamed The CORD (Create Opportunities Reach Dreams) Cordia Harrington Center for Excellence.

The four-story, 71,000-SF center opened on the Fayetteville campus in January. It provides classrooms, study labs, conference rooms and a range of office and flexible spaces.

Harrington, a 1976 graduate of the university’s College of Agriculture, said the center being renamed in her honor is “a thrill and a privilege.”

“As a first in my family to attend and graduate college, and as a study abroad recipient (Japan), my University of Arkansas experience was life changing! This endowment is to pay it forward for the amazing blessings I received at the U of A,” she said in a news release. “I am very grateful.”

A dedication ceremony at The CORD is scheduled for April 8.

Harrington of Franklin, Tennessee, is a former Nashville Business Journal CEO of the Year, the first female international president of the Chief Executives Organization, and chair of the American Baker’s Association in Washington, D.C.

Her support of the university is an extension of her philanthropic work. She has provided financial support to more than 50 students studying abroad through the Cordia Harrington “The Bun Lady” International Experience Endowed Scholarship. She he also helped students through Chi Omega Leadership scholarships and Belmont University BunLady Scholarships.

Harrington was a member of the Campaign Arkansas Steering Committee and was named the 2016 Johnson Fellow by the Arkansas Alumni Association. In 2020, she received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters and was the keynote commencement speaker during the All-University Commencement ceremony. 

“Her own success story as well as her commitment to helping others is truly inspiring,” Trevor Francis, the university’s associate vice provost and director of student success, said in the release. “Over and above her support for the building project, she is directly empowering students by endowing some of our most influential and innovative academic success programs.

“We couldn’t be more honored to have the Cordia Harrington Center for Excellence in the historic heart of campus and to be the recipient of this transformational gift.”