UofL gets $6 million for student scholarships

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The University of Louisville’s capital campaign will get a $6 million boost for student scholarships thanks to a $3 million gift from the Henry Vogt Foundation and its president, Henry V. Heuser, Jr., and $3 million in matching gifts from other donors.

“We are especially thrilled about these gifts because they directly impact our students,” said UofL President James Ramsey. “We’ll be targeting more donations for scholarships in the stretch run of our comprehensive campaign.”

In honor of the Vogt gift, UofL’s Hallmark scholars program will be renamed the Henry Vogt Scholarships. Kentucky students who have a 3.75 GPA in high school and score at least a 30 on the ACT or 1320 on the SAT are eligible to apply for the awards which include full tuition and an annual $3,500 educational allowance.

“Helping young people get an education is the best investment we can make to improve our community,” said Heuser.

Gifts like these have pushed the campaign past its original goal of $750 million. UofL began its current fundraising campaign, “Charting Our Course: A Campaign for Kentucky’s Premier Metropolitan Research University” in 2007 with a target of $750 million by 2013. However, in 2011 UofL’s Board of Trustees decided to push the goal to $1 billion and extend the campaign until July, 2014.

Two additional co-chairs have been added to the campaign: Ulysses Lee “Junior” Bridgeman and Charles “Chuck” Denny. Both are UofL graduates. A former UofL basketball player, Bridgeman is founder and president of Bridgeman Foods LLC. Denny is regional president of Kentucky/Tennessee banking of PNC Bank.

J. Chester Porter, founder and chairman emeritus of Porter Bancorp, is the chairman emeritus for the campaign. Heuser also is a campaign co-chair as was Owsley Brown Frazier, who died in August.

For more information about the campaign or to make a contribution to student scholarships, see chartingourcourse.org/