Duckett family starts UALR endowed student support fund in honor of daughter

The Jim and Cherry Duckett family of Little Rock has made a donation to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to create an endowed student support fund in honor of UA Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law alumna Stacy Duckett.

The fund will help UA Little Rock students meet basic educational expenses and needs including housing, critical car repairs, food insecurity, licensure exam costs, participation in national honor societies, student travel, and more.

“The Duckett family’s gift in memory of Stacy will enable us to provide financial support in areas that have not previously had an available funding source, such as food insecurity needs or coverage of professional licensure fees,” said Provost Ann Bain. “The ability to provide this support can make a difference in a student completing their degree or in accessing timely employment.”

The Stacy Duckett Student Support Endowment Fund will honor Stacy Duckett’s memory of living a philanthropic life by helping others improve their lives through education without having to experience great financial burden. Student recipients will be selected by the Office of the Provost at UA Little Rock.

“Stacy believed in the transformative power of education, and she would have liked the idea of a student support fund that could eliminate barriers for others pursuing college degrees,” the Duckett family said.

Stacy Duckett graduated from Hendrix College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1986 and earned her law degree from the UA Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law in 1995. She was the first TCBY employee who was not a member of the founder’s family, the Hickingbothams, and began working at the company’s first store in 1981 when she was in high school. She later became vice president and assistant general counsel for TCBY Enterprises, Inc. Duckett, who was vice president, chief compliance officer, and corporate secretary at Southwest Power Pool in Little Rock, passed away in 2015.

Donations may be made to the Stacy Duckett Student Support Fund by visiting this website.