Endowed Scholarship Helps Grow Jindal Young Scholars Program

Longtime Naveen Jindal School of Management supporters Nancy Gundy Davidson BS’80 and Charles “Chuck” Davidson MS’80 have made a $500,000 gift to endow the Charles and Nancy Davidson Scholarship for the Jindal Young Scholars Program. 

Now in its third year, the Jindal Young Scholars Program (JYSP) is a critical pillar of UT Dallas’ community outreach initiatives. In partnership with five Dallas ISD high schools, the program provides a variety of resources that help broaden opportunities for local students after high school. 

“We’re trying to make students aware of what it takes to transition from high school to their post-secondary lives,” said Billy Schewee, director of JYSP. “Whether that’s a traditional four-year college, two-year college, vocational schools or whatever that looks like for them. Anything we can offer that increase what is available to students after high school is a win for us.” 

To accomplish this goal, JYSP embraces a multipronged approach to engage students, including guest speaker series, mentorship opportunities with current UT Dallas students, ACT/SAT test prep encouragement and campus visits to UT Dallas that provide a glimpse of college life to students who may never have been on a college campus before. 

JYSP also offers significant scholarships to outstanding program participants who are admitted to the Jindal School, covering any unmet need after federal, state and institutional financial assistance is granted. These prestigious awards provide an incentive for DISD students to engage with the program’s offerings and apply themselves academically.

Endowments like the Davidson’s scholarship support these talented students while providing the resources needed for JYSP to grow. 

“Even though the majority of our programming is geared toward high school students, the overwhelming majority of our costs comes from funding these scholarships for UT Dallas students,” Schewee said. “When folks like the Davidsons come through, that’s exactly what we need to provide for more students. It helps us get down to business with our primary mission.” 

The Jindal School currently enrolls 15 Jindal Young Scholars, and more than 300 students participate annually in JYSP’s various initiatives. In coming years, the program hopes to expand to more local schools in order to reach more students. 

“We want that 300 to turn into 500, and soon to 1,000,” Schewee said. “The more resources we can procure, the more impact we can have.”