ALPINE- Six graduate students at the Borderlands Research Institute (BRI) at Sul Ross State University have been selected to receive $66,000 in scholarships from four different sources, including a new endowment fund established earlier this year. The newly created Franklin and Virginia Law Scholarship honors the legacy of a West Texas family that has been ranching in Brewster County for more than a century.

“Franklin and Virginia Law were both college graduates and they greatly valued education and understood the beneficial impact it could have, not only for their own children and grandchildren, but for future generations,” said Dr. Louis Harveson, who is the Dan Allen Hughes, Jr., BRI Endowed Director and Regents’ Professor of Wildlife Management at Sul Ross State University. “It is a fitting tribute to their memory that their children have established a scholarship and endowment that will benefit students for years to come.”

The Law family established the scholarship and endowment to assist graduate students at the Borderlands Research Institute at Sul Ross State University to further their education and help expand the knowledge of all landowners, so they may become more effective stewards of their land. The endowment was established with a $25,000 gift. The scholarship complements the Virginia Matthews Law endowment and scholarship that was established in 2018. Other scholarships awarded this year come from the San Antonio Livestock Exposition (S.A.L.E), and the West Texas Chapter of Safari Club International. Six graduate students received a total of eight scholarships:

S.A.L.E. Fellowship: Leanna Morin, Kelley Wood, Olivia Gray, and Daniel Wilcox
Virginia Matthews Law Scholarship: Rachel Bittner, Kelley Wood
Franklin and Virginia Law Scholarship: Daniel Wilcox
West Texas Chapter Safari Club International Endowed Scholarship: Joshua Coward

For more than a decade, the Borderlands Research Institute has encouraged effective land stewardship of the Chihuahuan Desert. Housed at Sul Ross State University, the Borderlands Research Institute builds on a long-lasting partnership with private landowners, the university’s Range and Wildlife Program, and cooperating state, federal, and non-governmental organizations. Through research, education, and outreach, the Borderlands Research Institute is helping to conserve the last frontier of Texas and the Southwest.