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The University of Texas at Austin

Program History

College of Liberal Arts

Audre and Bernard Rapoport

In August 1996, The University of Texas System Board of Regents established the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Endowment for International and Multidisciplinary Studies with a perpetual pledge of one-sixth of the total annual distributions from the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Foundation dedicated to the endowment principal.

The creation and initial funding of the scholarship came from Bernard and Audre Rapoport, whose dedication to improving the lives of undergraduate students at The University of Texas at Austin served as the driving force behind the program. Bernard, inspired by his own undergraduate experiences and passion for community engagement and civic life, sought to provide a scholarship rooted in those values.

Initial conversations about the scholarship stemmed from Bernard Rapoport’s vision of a program centered on community leadership. He also wanted to ease the financial burden on undergraduates, giving them the freedom to fully explore their academic interests while at UT Austin. Bernard and Audre collaborated with then-Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Dr. Richard Lariviere, to bring this vision to life. Dean Lariviere tasked then-Associate Dean Dr. Linda Ferreira-Buckley with launching the scholarship. Dr. Gabby Yearwood was recruited as the program's first coordinator and played a key role in establishing its foundation.

The program was built on three core principles championed by Bernard and Audre: 

  • Community Service
  • Academic Coursework
  • Leadership Development. 

Its aim was to train community leaders who would, in turn, make a positive impact on their communities.

In November 2000, the Board of Regents and the Foundation amended the agreement, dedicating future annual distributions to an annual scholarship program within the College of Liberal Arts. Today, this initiative is known as the Rapoport Service Scholarship Program, which supports 36 scholars annually, positively impacting countless communities.

The program recruited its first class of scholars in 2001, with 17 students. Since then, it has recruited 12–14 new scholars each year, maintaining a total of 36–42 scholars actively involved at any given time.

To date, the program boasts 308 alumni spread across the globe, making a difference in fields such as law, education, medicine, and social work, to name just a few.