June 23, 2020HASTINGS Initiates Diversity Scholarship in College
The College of Architecture and Design in collaboration with the National Organization of Minority Architects announces the creation of a new scholarship fund for students entering the college. The Keystone Scholarship will enable the college to build upon its thriving base of outstanding students by expanding its ability to recruit top diverse high school graduates in Tennessee.
To quickly grow the scholarship, HASTINGS Architecture in Nashville has made a significant investment in matching funds. HASTINGS challenges all architecture and interior architecture/design firms and individual professionals within the state and beyond to contribute to the fund to reach the goal of a $1M scholarship endowment by May 2021.
“HASTINGS is doing more than establishing a life-changing scholarship,” said Scott Poole, dean of the College of Architecture and Design. “With the Keystone Scholarship, HASTINGS is leading the charge to affect long-term change across the state in our profession. When fully realized, the scholarship will fund the education of an outstanding recipient each and every year. This scholarship will help us achieve greater equity in access to our program.”
Once fully endowed, the scholarship will cover all academic costs for an incoming student from Tennessee in the college’s School of Architecture or School of Interior Architecture each year. In addition to financial support, the scholarship recipient will receive an annual summer internship opportunity, guaranteeing experience in the field before graduation. The full scholarship should enable the student to graduate with no academic debt.
The college will initially engage Dillon Dunn (’18 B. Arch, Fulbright Scholar) of HASTINGS Architecture and representatives of the NOMA chapters in Tennessee in making the annual selection. Details of the scholarship, including eligibility criteria, are being finalized.
“For the team at HASTINGS, this scholarship crystalizes discussion we’ve had for many years regarding ways to increase participation of underrepresented groups in our profession,” said David Bailey (’93 B. Arch), principal at HASTINGS. “Recent events have changed it to a call to action, and we feel it is critical to make this opportunity available to outstanding diverse high school graduates in our state. We hope an overwhelming majority of firms and professionals across the country will join us in this important and overdue opportunity to change the landscape of our profession.”
“Tennessee chapters of NOMA are pleased to help facilitate the awarding of this scholarship,” said Valarie Franklin, president of the Nashville Chapter of NOMA. “One of NOMA’s missions is to encourage students into the profession and to continue in an active role in their education through licensure. This scholarship will not only award a talented and deserving student but will also assist in reducing attrition rates of black students in architecture programs reported by NCARB, which has largely been attributed to financial strain and high student loan debt.”
Firms and professionals who want to contribute to the scholarship fund should contact Pamela Cannella Treacy, director of Advancement at the college, at ptreacy@utk.edu.
Founded in 1965, the College of Architecture and Design enriches quality of life in the region and world through transformational design education, design/build program, key partnerships and award-winning facilities including the state-of-the-art Fab Lab. The college is comprised of more than 600 undergraduate and graduate students in architecture, interior architecture landscape architecture and graphic design. Visit archdesign.utk.edu to learn more.
HASTINGS Architecture in Nashville was founded in 1985 by Jim Hastings (’71 B. Arch) and Jeannie Hastings (’70) and is led by William Hastings (‘94), David Bailey (’93 B. Arch), David Powell and Chuck Gannaway (’94 B. Arch). Deeply committed to design and community, the firm is consistently recognized nationally for both its work and its progressive firm culture. In 2019, ARCHITECT magazine ranked HASTINGS #3 in the US, #7 in design, #10 in business and #35 in sustainability.
