YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund has awarded four University of North Texas students with $5,000 prizes. The UNT students are among more than 200 college students to receive money from the fund. One of the winners is Ruthanna Harry, a senior from Garland, majoring in merchandising and digital retailing with a minor in marketing.
The YMA FSF awards the largest single sum of money and the largest total number of scholarships in the fashion community to future fashion leaders, according the organization’s website. UNT students began participating in the competition in 2016.
“The Fashion Scholarship Fund member schools are a portfolio of the top retail, design and fashion programs in the country,” said Laura Storm, a lecturer in UNT’s Department of Merchandising and Digital Retailing. “It is an honor for UNT to be an eligible member school. “This award showcases the talent of our amazing students and the strength of our Merchandising, Digital Retailing, and Fashion Design programs.”
The scholarship fund invited the winners to their National Merit Scholarship Dinner in New York City. FSF paid for the students’ airfare and hotel so the students can attend the award gala with executives from the retail industry.
Harry said that she also hopes to use this event to build industry relationships.
“I’m thrilled that my long nights and hard work paid off,” she said. “I hope that this scholarship will help me build connections in the retail industry and land an internship in New York.”
About UNT: Established in 1890, UNT is one of the nation’s largest public research universities with 38,000 students. For 125 years, UNT has fulfilled its mission to lead the way in educating young men and women and creating leaders with great vision. Ranked a Tier One research university by the Carnegie Classification, UNT is a catalyst for creativity fueling progress, innovation and entrepreneurship for the North Texas region and the state. As the university has grown, so has its reach and impact. UNT graduated 8,200 students last year from its 13 colleges and schools and offers 103 bachelor’s, 86 master’s and 38 doctoral degree programs, many nationally and internationally recognized. UNT’s world-class faculty are making breakthroughs every day and its students and alumni are changing the world around them.