TAT: Scholarship to Honor Uekman

This article originally appeared in the October 18, 2012 issue of The Arkansas Traveler.

     The Garrett Uekman Foundation announced Monday an agreement with the UA to fund a $100,000 endowed memorial scholarship for Arkansas Razorback Athletics.

     UA Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Jeff Long attended the signing ceremony in Little Rock, along with Uekman’s parents, Danny and Michelle, and sister, Meagan.

     One Razorback athlete will be honored with the scholarship each year when it is completely funded. Football players, specifically tight ends and former walk-ons, will receive extra consideration, but all UA student-athletes are eligible for the scholarship.

     “We are grateful to Danny, Michelle, Meagan and the Uekman Foundation for helping Razorback Athletics further meet its mission of developing student-athletes to their fullest potential through intercollegiate athletics,” Long said Monday.

     Before coming to Arkansas, Uekman attended Little Rock Catholic High School, where he excelled in baseball, basketball and football. In the spring of 2010, he signed to play football for the Razorbacks.

     With the Razorbacks, he redshirted during the 2010 season and played in nine games as a redshirt freshman in 2011.

     Last year on Nov. 20, a day after Arkansas defeated Mississippi State in his hometown of Little Rock, Uekman was found unconscious and unresponsive in his dorm room at 11:15 a.m. and pronounced dead an hour later.

     An autopsy revealed that he passed away due to complications from cardiomyopathy as a result of an enlarged heart. He was just 19 years old.

     “(Uekman) was a special young man who made an impact on the lives of his teammates and students around the University of Arkansas campus. He was an extraordinary person and a true Razorback,” Long said.

     “We are deeply honored that the Uekman family and the Uekman Foundation have chosen to make this commitment to celebrate Garrett’s legacy in this way.”

     Following his death, the Garrett Uekman Foundation was created to “continue his legacy by raising funds to support heart disease research and education and to provide scholarships to deserving student athletes,” according to the foundation’s website, gu88.org.