Four University of Alabama alumni created a foundation to provide scholarships to graduate students. Recipients must be in good standing, in their second year of the public policy program and plan to change the world through public service.
Ray Harris, David Harris, Jason Wible and Brian Carver founded the 308 Grace Street Foundation. They selected Richard Fording, professor and chair of the department of political science, to award the first scholarship to Bryan Hooker, a graduate student at the University.
“I am very grateful and humbled to have been chosen as a 308 Grace Street Scholar,” Hooker said. “The scholarship will allow me to worry less about crippling student loan debt and focus more on learning about important policy issues that affect our country.”Hooker said public service is a powerful way to bring about positive change.
“The political science faculty here at The University of Alabama does a great job of emphasizing the importance of public service to students,” he said. “The chance to make an impact and help reconcile our country’s actions with its values is what draws me to public service.”
Fording said he was interested in the organization because of its assistance in helping students pay for school.
“What excites me and the department of political science’s faculty is that not only does it give one of our students the opportunity to be less stressed financially, but also the goal of our department and 308 Grace Street, to create a better world through public service, align,” he said.
Wible said the inspirations behind the 308 Grace Street organizations were not only personal, but were also about a growing concern of the financial struggles behind achieving a degree.
“It’s a great way for four lifelong friends to do something meaningful together,” Wible said. “There’s a real problem with the cost of college, and it’s keeping the best and brightest from pursuing degrees. Something needs to be done.”
