WASHINGTON – Alumnus Casey Stringer (B.B.A. ’84) remembers his days on campus in the early 1980s when it was a little easier to find money for his education. Back then he and other Howard University students had excellent access to federal grants and guaranteed student loans. Plus, the cost of university tuition was not as expensive as it is for today’s students.

“The federal money is not there like it needs to be,” Stringer said in an interview. “We really need alumni to give back. I would encourage giving at least small amounts of money; everybody can do that. You don’t have to give large donations, but every little bit counts.”

Stringer, who after gradation rose to create his own Washington, D.C.-based company, Broughton Construction Co., has sought to reach out to help current Howard students fund their college educations. A year ago, Stringer and the School of Business unveiled the Casey Stringer Leadership Scholarship Awards. The scholarship was funded through a $102,000 donation from Stringer. The award is available to undergraduate business students concentrating in marketing and supply chain management.

One unique feature of the scholarship application was the requirement that students provide a “brand identity package” that best communicated who they were. Stringer said students were very creative with the packages – some provided YouTube videos; others, PowerPoint slide show presentations.

“I feel that branding is so important in selling yourself and understanding who you are,” Stringer said. “If you get that at an early age, that can carry you pretty far. That was a critical piece for me.”

The Casey Stringer Leadership Scholarship provided six scholarships in 2012 for a total of $28,000. Among the criteria were a 3.0 GPA, and backgrounds in community service and participation in campus organizations.

Adeshile Allinson, a senior in supply chain management, won the scholarship this year.  Allinson, who has born in Nigeria where her family still lives, moved to the United States to attend Howard University. As an international student, she often doesn’t qualify for scholarships that require U.S. citizenship.

Allinson has accepted a full-time position at Alcoa Inc., the Pittsburgh-based aluminum manufacturer, where she interned over the summer.

“It takes a lot of money to pay out of pocket every single year,” she said. “The scholarship helped a great deal. It helped take the burden off of the entire family.”