Letter from the Executive Director: Count ’Em

By Chuck Harris in Nov | Dec 2024 on October 31, 2024 at 3:57 pm | No Comments

This past September, a bunch of us filed into the Connally Ballroom here at the Alumni Center for one of my favorite nights of the year: the Forty Acres Scholars Program dinner. The room was a familiar mix of people—longtime donors, ridiculously proud parents, and Scholars with maturity, poise, and intelligence far beyond their age. But this year was different.

In May 2024, the 10th class of Forty Acres Scholars tossed their caps at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium and graduated from The University of Texas. It was a moment for us all to take a second and reflect on the road that got us here. We’ve now tracked 10 years of life in this program. That’s 10 years of ambitions we’ve helped propel and 10 years of connections between generations.   

In a relatively short time, we have done so much to keep the best and brightest students in Texas. We want our state’s top talent to stay here, where everything is bigger, even dreams. The program is tailored to recruiting them, empowering them, and helping them give their best back to society.  

As we look back on the decade, I really want to thank the folks I call our angel investors: First, it was Jim Boon, BBA ’69, MBA ’72, Life Member, our executive director at the time who founded the program, and then the donors who endowed these scholarships back in 2011 and have always been our true believers. Before we had a single alumni success story to point to as proof that it could work, they believed a program like this was possible. I have a special place in my heart for them.   

The premise has paid off. We have Scholar alumni leading in all endeavors—from the Peace Corps to Wall Street. And when I talk to these amazing professionals, they all point to UT and this program as the reasons for their success.  

Our Forty Acres Scholars are entering the workforce with skills that could have taken a lifetime to acquire. Their success is a credit to everyone who has rooted for them, interviewed them, mentored them, and supported them along the way. When I looked around the room that night, with Scholars and donors and alumni coming together, it was like watching the dream become reality. 

Hook ’em,  

@chuckjharris
Chuck Harris, BBA ’86, Life Member
Executive Director & CEO, the Texas Exes

CREDIT: Matt Wright-Steel

Tags: forty acres scholars, forty acres scholars program