UCA President Tom Courtway, Bonnie Steenis, Dr. Stephanie Watson, chair of the Department of Accounting and Dr. Michael Hargis, dean of the College of Business
The University of Central Arkansas received a $250,000 gift from the late Donna S. Stephens to establish an endowed scholarship fund for Faulkner County students.
The university recently held a ceremony to unveil a plaque commemorating the gift.
“Ceremonies like these are important—to acknowledge the legacy and career of someone who really cared deeply about students and wanted to give back,” said UCA President Tom Courtway. “The direct beneficiaries of Donna’s philanthropy are the families and the students of Faulkner County who choose to study accounting at UCA.”
Spencer Freyaldenhoven and Kevin Wan are the first recipients of the Donna S. Stephens Accounting Scholarship Fund.
The first two recipients of the scholarship are Spencer Freyaldenhoven and Kevin Wan.
The UCA Foundation unveiled the bronze plaque at a ceremony in the College of Business. The plaque will hang in McCastlain Hall after renovations are completed at that historic building.
During the ceremony, President Courtway introduced Bonnie Steenis, a long-time friend and office manager for Stephens, who talked about the legacy of the scholarship. Other former employees, friends and colleagues of Stephens were present, including Jennifer Bell, from Bell & Company. Bell and Company purchased Stephens’ business. Also in attendance were faculty, staff and students from the College of Business and Department of Accounting.
Stephens was a 1968 graduate of State College of Arkansas, now UCA. She was a certified public accountant and owned her own accounting firm in Conway. Throughout her career, she was a great supporter of UCA’s Department of Accounting. She hired many UCA accounting students for internships and some for permanent positions. Stephens passed away in January 2013, and her estate left the generous endowment to UCA to fund the accounting scholarships.
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