The University has a long association with the not-for-profit Hartford Promise, which provides scholarship money for eligible students towards their college education. 16 Hartford Promise Scholars will be joining UHart as first-year students—a record number—adding to the nearly 50 Scholars already enrolled.
This year, for the first time, every new Hartford Promise Scholar is eligible for up to $100,000 over four years toward any accredited four-year college as part of the Greater Futures Scholarship Fund. The fund is the result of a partnership between Hartford Promise and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. Stanley Black & Decker is funding the scholarships for the students attending UHart.
Lawrence P. Ward, President, University of HartfordThere’s nothing more powerful than when someone believes in you.
“There’s nothing more powerful than when someone believes in you,” said Lawrence P. Ward, president of the University of Hartford, in his remarks to the students. “If you think about the communities that we live in, there’s another group of young people, younger than you, who are looking at you as evidence of what’s possible.”
In addition to Ward, the students heard from Hartford Scholar Shawn Baskerville ’26, a music major at The Hartt School. He encouraged them to lean on their Hartford Scholar ambassadors for support, and to embrace networking opportunities which he said would pay dividends after college.
Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam offered another word of encouragement to the rising first-years. “Believe me when I tell you,” he said, “you don’t just have a team here in Hartford Promise, but a whole city that is behind you, that’s pulling for you, that believes in you, that knows that every single one of you can do amazing things.”