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Updated: November 14, 2024 @ 1:55 pm
Tuesday, November 12, 2024 brought a reminder that the University of Arkansas is a school first and foremost, not just a football team.
That was the day the university announced the creation of its Land of Opportunity Scholarship, which is being funded with help from a $100 million gift from the J.B. and Johnelle Hunt family. The university hopes to raise a total of $200 million, including the Hunts’ donation, over three years. Counting other gifts from wealthy Arkansans, it’s already topped $122 million.
The scholarship will serve lower-income students who are eligible for Pell Grants or whose family incomes are a little above that level. There will be no set amount per student. Instead, awards will be based on students’ needs.
The university’s chancellor, Dr. Charles Robinson, said there is an 18-point difference in graduation rates between students who are eligible for Pell Grants and those whose families make more money. Lower-income students face more challenges and competing responsibilities than their wealthier peers.
“Here’s the thing: You can advise all you want, but if people don’t have the money, they can’t stay here to listen to what you have to say,” he said. “You can encourage students to get involved in (registered student organizations). But if they don’t have the time because they have to work, then they can’t participate in it.”
Only Arkansas students will be eligible for the scholarships. While the university is educating a record number of Arkansans this year, slightly less than half of its student body comes from here. Many of the rest come from Texas, which is mildly ironic considering who the Razorbacks were playing Saturday.
Which brings us to football. It’s been a mediocre season so far for the Razorbacks, which could change in either direction based on Saturday’s final score. A win over the Texas Longhorns would be huge, while a close loss would be not unexpected. A blowout loss would increase calls among some fans to fire the coach.
Regardless of Saturday’s result, talk will continue about increasing funding for Arkansas Edge. That’s the university’s name-image-likeness (NIL) collective that pays money to college athletes.
Athletes playing for the highest bidder is the new reality in major college sports, and the University of Arkansas has fallen behind some schools. Those include Ole Miss, which thumped the Hogs 63-31 a couple of weeks ago with better, higher paid players.
Elite college football players, in fact, are making a lot of money. Earlier this year, the New York Times reported that a quarterback in the Southeastern Conference can earn $1 million. The Longhorns’ backup quarterback, Arch Manning, nephew of Peyton and Eli, has an NIL valuation of $3.1 million, according to the website On3.com. That doesn’t mean he’s earning that amount, but it’s what the site’s algorithm says he’s worth. Georgia’s interception-prone quarterback, Carson Beck, valued at $1.5 million by On3.com, recently bought a Lamborghini sports car that retails for $270,000.
While Arkansas is lagging in its football recruiting, it’s doing great in basketball. This week, the Hogs landed their second five-star recruit, Meleek Thomas, for next year’s class.
I’m sure Thomas will make plenty of money, but basketball is cheaper than football. It requires only about seven really good players. Furthermore, Arkansas’ Hall of Fame basketball coach, John Calipari, has a long history of getting players into the NBA, where the real money is. Perhaps some recruits will play here – for a year or two – for a discount for that reason.
The Hunts could have given $100 million to Arkansas Edge and probably gotten more press and more attaboys. But helping lower-income Arkansas students earn engineering and teaching degrees is a better investment than helping a quarterback buy a Lamborghini.
People can give money to what they want to, and I want the Razorbacks to beat Texas, too. But there’s only so much money available between football, basketball, and the Land of Opportunity Scholarship. We might be able to afford only two of the three.
If that’s the case, the first part of the week showed the emphasis is probably on the right two, with the Hunts picking the best one.
Steve Brawner is a syndicated columnist published in 17 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.
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