By ESTHER YU
Replenishment grants offered by the Alumni Association give students money with the good faith that they will one day repay it.
However, there is no set time in which the money needs to be returned. The replenishment grant application asks the person to sign with the knowledge that “While recognizing I am not legally obligated to do so and that my ability to contribute will depend up the circumstances of my life, I acknowledge as a future goal my moral responsibility to replenish the fund ….”
This system of trust has been in existence for about seven years, and is based on the Perpetual Immigration Fund from the early 1850’s, said Roy Brinkerhoff, the assistant director of alumni activities.
When members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were asked to come to the Utah area many could not afford the trek from Europe, Brinkerhoff said. Tens of thousands of Saints were able to come because wealthier families donated money to the Perpetual Immigration Fund, Brinkerhoff said.
The recipients were expected to repay the money after they had jobs and could afford to, Brinkerhoff said.
In like manner, replenishment grants are given with the expectation that the recipient will repay the money “some time in the future, so that others can be helped, too,” Brinkerhoff said.
The number of applicants is lower than usual this year, Brinkerhoff said.
Grants are given to the students with the greatest need as long as they have maintained a minimum grade point average requirement of 3.0.
However, other aspects of the student’s life are considered, Brinkerhoff said. Grants are typically half-tuition to full-tuition.
An average of 30 upperclassmen and graduates receive Replenishment Grants through the Alumni House each year, Brinkerhoff said.
Undergraduate students are also eligible for replenishment grants because of some of the chapters that exist throughout the states. Currently, the California Los Angeles North Regional Chapter, California Los Angeles South Regional Chapter, California South Bay Regional Chapter and the Arizona Phoenix Regional Chapter are the four with replenishment grants available.
Students have until March 1 to turn in an application. Applications are available in the scholarship office of the Abraham O. Smoot Administration Building and in the Alumni House.
