Officially, the endowment is known as the Hispanic Faculty/Staff Association - Jamail/Long Challenge Grant Scholarship. The association established this endowment to recognize the accomplishments of deserving Hispanic students at The University of Texas at Austin. Dennis and Cedora Anderson donated some of the money by which this endowment was funded and the money was subsequently matched by the Jamail/Long Challenge Grant.

All deserving Hispanic students enrolled at The University of Texas at Austin are eligible for this scholarship. In years for which more than one award is made, at least one scholarship will be awarded to an incoming freshman. All scholarships will be multi-year awards. To continue the scholarships, students must maintain satisfactory progress toward completion of their degree requirements and as determined by the regular procedures established by The Texas Exes.

The scholarship committee of the Hispanic Faculty/Staff Association will select recipients, as scholarships become available each year, from qualified applicants that apply through the Texas Exes Scholarship application process. Although the name of the endowment is the Hispanic Faculty/Staff Association - Jamail/Long Challenge Grant Scholarship, two of the awards will be given in perpetuity in honor of Dennis and Cedora Anderson. The Texas Exes must approve all recipients.

The Hispanic Faculty/Staff Association Scholarship Committee recommends a scholarship award of no less than $1,000 dollars per year. The fund will be invested and administered within the established fiduciary policy of The Texas Exes, and the Association’s Investment Committee will set the percentage of income to be awarded to recipients each year. The Investment Committee sets administrative fees that are paid to the money managers, investment consultants and the Association. The fees are based on the market value of the fund and are taken from the fund each year. Any earnings not awarded to the recipients each year will be returned to the fund to provide for fund growth.

The 2005-2006 Scholarship Committee, chaired by Graciela Pratt and Dr. Margarita Arellano, had a landmark year in their fundraising efforts. The silent and live auctions held in December raised a total of $3,546, bringing the scholarship fund balance up to $121,673.24 at the end of 2005. A total of $4,300 will be available for scholarships for the 2006-2007 academic year.

The scholarship will be presented at a Texas Exes annual scholarship awards presentation and the recipient(s) will also be recognized at the first monthly meeting of the Hispanic Faculty/Staff Association (September meeting).

The terms of this scholarship may be altered by the Board of Directors of The Texas Exes if it is determined that the terms no longer meet the original intent of the donors.

The students will apply through the regular application process that The Texas Exes has already in place for other scholarships and they will make names available to the committee for consideration.