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JACKSON, Tenn. — Oct. 28, 2021 — A major gift will help 51���� recruit some of the brightest students in the humanities and social sciences in an effort to train the next generation of Christ-centered teachers and professors.

“The Lifeshape Scholarship will help Union not just to attract students, but to attract the best, most academically-qualified students,” said Hunter Baker, dean for Union’s College of Arts and Sciences. “It truly is a transformational gift that will be a huge blessing to 51���� and its students.”

The gift will provide “last dollar” merit-based scholarships to incoming 51���� freshmen majoring in such fields as English, history, languages, political science, theology and philosophy. A “last dollar” scholarship means that the Lifeshape Scholarship will be applied to students’ university costs after all other financial aid is calculated, which will essentially cover all the recipients’ tuition.

Dan Griffin, Union’s vice president for enrollment management, said such a resource will make a significant difference for students who want to come to Union but may not have the financial resources to do so.

“This generous gift will allow Union to provide significantly more full-tuition scholarships than we are currently providing,” Griffin said. “It’s difficult to overstate how consequential this is, and it will make a huge difference in our ability to recruit students to Union. We’re so thankful for Lifeshape and for the way they are investing in our students.”

Baker said the scholarship will ease students’ financial burden, making it much easier for them to attend graduate school after completing their Union education.

“We are trying to train the next generation of Christian professors in the humanities,” Baker said. “One of the convictions behind the gift is that there are not enough Christian scholars working in the humanities. We want to see people out there not only getting their Ph.D., but them being the professors training future doctoral students as well.”

A score of 28 or its equivalent on the ACT will be required for scholarship applicants. The scholarship will be awarded to incoming freshmen and will be renewable for four years.