Faculty in the Butler School of Music at The University of Texas at Austin have donated $25,000 to establish a new endowed scholarship in music.
The initiative was a grassroots effort on the part of the faculty that began in summer 2009, when Sarah and Ernest Butler, in their continued support of the Butler School, announced an initiative to provide matching funds for any scholarship gifts between $25,000 and $50,000 through the end of 2009. Several members of the faculty saw the announcement as an opportunity to help provide much-needed student aid, and began talking with their colleagues about donating to the effort.
The resulting $50,000 endowed scholarship in music, when matched by the Butlers in January 2010, will support undergraduate and graduate students in music.
“I am particularly moved by the fact that in a year in which the faculty received no merit raises, they would voluntarily donate funds in an amount sufficient to establish an endowed scholarship,” said B. Glenn Chandler, director of the Butler School of Music. “This is just another example of the unwavering dedication our faculty have to the education of their students.”
The matching funds provided by the Butlers are part of their latest endeavor in what has been nearly 30 years of support of the School of Music, including a $55 million gift in 2008 that resulted in the renaming of the school in their honor. To date, the dollar-for-dollar matching program has resulted in seven new scholarships for music, and Chandler said he anticipates that three additional scholarships in progress will also be matched.
Learn more about the Ernest and Sarah Butler School of Music.
