Cabot Junior Agriculture Student Awarded Jim and Betty Sloan Scholarship
JONESBORO — Mason Laws of Cabot, a junior in the College of Agriculture at Arkansas State University, is the newest recipient of the Jim and Betty Sloan Memorial Scholarship. He is majoring in agricultural economics and finance.
Since age 15, Laws spent his summers working for farmers in the Cabot area. "I knew that when I grew up, I would want to do something that involved agriculture," he wrote in his application.
While carrying a full academic schedule at A-State, he is employed for almost 30 hours a week as a part-time teller at Centennial Bank. His career goal is to work in agriculture loans or crop insurance.
He is the son of Dewan and Joellen Laws of Sherwood and Teri and Justin Porter of Cabot.
The Jim and Betty Sloan Memorial Scholarship is awarded to a junior agriculture major. It is granted for up to four semesters, including graduate study, as long as the recipient maintains a 3.25 GPA and remains in the College of Agriculture.
Andrew Dylan Schwarz of Weiner, the 2020 recipient, will continue to receive a scholarship during his senior year.
Jim Sloan, a Jonesboro native, died in 1979 at age 56. The scholarship in his memory was established through the ASU System Foundation, Inc., by his widow Betty, their six children and the Craighead County Farm Bureau, led by the late Lee Linzay. The endowment has grown to provide $2,000 per semester for each recipient.
After Betty died in 2014, the family asked that her name be added to the scholarship.
Both Jim and Betty were landowners, farm managers, community volunteers and strong supporters of the A-State College of Agriculture.
Jim served on the state Farm Bureau board for 10 years from 1969-79. Betty was named to the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2007.
A committee representing both the Sloan family and Craighead County Farm Bureau selects the recipient. One standard is showing promise of service to the future of agriculture in Northeast Arkansas.
For details about this and other scholarships, contact the College of Agriculture at CoA@AState.edu or call 870-972-3362.
