Kenneth Hale Scholarship Endowment

May 2009

Dear Friends,

     While the Department of Linguistics is beloved and well-treated by the University of Arizona and the Social & Behavioral Sciences College, the financial realities are a constant challenge.

     Given the UA's funding model, this is most apparent in graduate funding. It's in the area of graduate education that budget vagaries are most problematic. At the level we are ranked, we are unable to offer competitive funding offers to potential graduate students, and this has immediate effects on graduate education, but also on undergrad education since grad students participate in undergraduate instruction as apprentice instructors. What can we do to enable young scholars to attend the UA to pursue research on Native American languages, syntax, phonology, psycholinguistics, computational linguistics and language acquisition?

     We're asking for your help. We are attempting to raise $500,000 this year to continue recruiting and funding top students. If we reach our fundraising goal, we will be able to offer 4-year guaranteed funding packages to incoming graduate students. Graduate student funding is the weak link in a chain that holds the mission of the department together. All that we do directly or indirectly hinges on this.

     Will you help insure that this mission-the mission of helping people in Arizona learn how language works-continues? Can we count you in for a gift of $1,000, $500 or $250, or whatever your personal finances will allow?

     Your gift may go to support the Kenneth Hale Scholarship Endowment or the General Linguistics fund.

     The first supports research by Native American students working on their own language. The second supports our mission generally. Please know that your generosity here is really appreciated. Thank you!

Mike Hammond

Professor & Head

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