For 35 years, the Hendrick Scholarship has carried out a simple but powerful idea: that a Plano student's future shouldn't be limited by their family's finances. Dr. Hendrick's founding vision paired with the early stewardship of the founding board, including Chair Emeritus Rutledge Haggard built more than a scholarship fund. It built a standing commitment to this city of Plano’s students that has now spanned three and a half decades.

That commitment shows up in the numbers: over 500 scholars have been through the program developing generations of Plano students who completed degrees they might not otherwise have pursued. But it shows up more clearly in the ripple effects—alumni who returned to Plano as teachers, nurses, engineers, and small business owners; families for whom one scholarship changed what felt possible for their children; a donor community that has stayed engaged year after year because they can see, concretely, where their support lands.

Rutledge Haggard's leadership helped set a tone the board has carried forward: careful stewardship of donor trust, a steady focus on students over institutional growth, and a willingness to keep showing up for Plano year after year. Thirty-five years in, the Hendrick Scholarship's legacy isn't just the students it has funded, it's the model of quiet, consistent community investment it has left for this city to keep building on.

Your monthly donation helps us continue investing in students.  More than a degree. Changing Lives.