An endowed fund at the University of Vermont that has supported literary readings and workshops by visiting writers has been redirected toward scholarships for English majors as primary beneficiaries.
The Burlington Free Press reports the change comes as the UVM administration confronts an ever-growing demand for undergraduate financial aid, a significant drain on the university's general fund.
Net annual income from the James Buckham and Mary Brigham Buckham Fund, which was established in the 1980s, was about $133,000 in Fiscal Year 2013.
A primary use of the fund was to bring in writers and poets for readings and workshops.
Some of the authors who have visited are Stephen King, George Saunders, Galway Kinnell and Elizabeth Alexander.
