INHERITING A RESPONSIBILITY

BY PHIL RIDDLE

Afamily member left Dr. Randal Ford an important job:

Find a place to invest nearly a half-million dollars to help educate worthy FFA students from the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD in Southeast Texas.

Dr. Ben Hosey, a Houston physician, made the bequest in honor of a late friend who worked in Cypress-Fairbanks. Hosey was a bachelor, and when he died a codicil in his will put Ford in charge of founding the Hosey-Whitman Scholarship.

Hosey couldn’t have made a better choice.

“I got this huge amount of money,” Ford said, “and I really investigated the best place for it to go.”

Ford, who works in the curriculum and instruction department of Tarleton’s College of Education, took the task seriously, researching extensively before deciding on Tarleton.

“His wishes were very clear,” she said. “He wanted me to decide what to do with this money. He wanted to help.”

Although her heart told her where the educational windfall should land, Ford’s uncle left no guidelines. She called several universities.

Ford honors family member’s wish by creating Tarleton scholarship

Inheriting a “Not one of them was as excited or seemed to meet the needs as much as Tarleton,” she said. Tarleton is well-known among FFA students. The university hosts the organization’s annual invitational contests, the largest in the state. “Where better to attract kids and get them to come? The atmosphere is perfect for that scholarship.” Established in 2016, the scholarship targets full-time students involved in high school FFA and graduating in the top 25 percent of their class. It can offer ongoing help for up to four students, two years each. The decision to grant Tarleton the donation was sealed by Dr. Kyle McGregor, vice president of Institutional Advancement, who worked with Ford to help get university agriculture teachers certified through Ford’s program— Tarleton Model for Accelerated Teacher Education (TMATE)—and Assistant Vice President for Development Janice Horak, who guided the donation process.

“They both played instrumental parts in the reason for Tarleton getting the money,” Ford said.

The first recipient is senior history major Emily Howell, who was delightfully surprised that a Central Texas university wanted to fund a graduate of Lamar Consolidated High School.

“It seemed almost random that Tarleton would offer a scholarship to someone all the way down to the Houston area,” she said.

Howell plans to become a teacher, either of European history or human geography, and intends to earn her teaching certification through TMATE after graduating with her bachelor’s degree.

“It’s a huge help,” she said of the scholarship. “I pay for school myself without any outside help. It lifts a big financial burden.”

Hosey trusted his niece to fulfill his vision of enriching young people with schooling, something she has done her entire career.

A graduate of Waco High School, Ford took her bachelor’s and her doctorate from Baylor with a master’s from Mary Hardin-Baylor in between. She came to Tarleton in 2005 when a friend, Dr. Ann Calahan, asked if she’d be interested in running the university’s alternative teaching certification program.

“I was in an administrative position at UT Arlington, but I really wanted to teach. Ann called me up and I applied. Easy as that.”

Now an instructor in the TMATE program, Ford derived tremendous satisfaction in shaping the scholarship.

“My uncle believed in education,” she said. “I get the pleasure of knowing somebody gets to go to college.”