Underprivileged Girls to Tour Building Named for Sponsor

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Norma Lea Beasley Entrance Hall was dedicated at the University of Arkansas in October 2006. Since then, girls who benefit every day from Norma Lea Beasley’s generosity and mentoring have been eager to visit the building named after their sponsor.

Six girls, between 9 and 11 years old, from Girls Incorporated of Metropolitan Dallas will visit the University of Arkansas Monday, July 30, to tour the new additions at the Leflar Law Center, including the Norma Lea Beasley Entrance Hall.

Beasley, who earned her Juris Doctor from the School of Law in 1953, has been a major supporter of Girls Inc. for more than 10 years. She has served on its Board of Trustees and is currently a member of its Advisory Board. Beasley’s role at Girls Inc. does not end with her generous support of the program.

Beasley has also played a central mentoring role in the girls’ lives, spending time with them and acquainting them with her business and civic experiences. Her life has been an inspiration for them - from her zeal for education to her first job as an attorney and her stories of meeting with presidents and world dignitaries.

The visit to Beasley’s alma mater is a chance for the girls to put a face with a college campus and to encourage the girls from an early age to pursue higher education.

Girls Inc. in Dallas provides services, such as after-school programs and summer camps, for more than 2,000 underprivileged girls each year. The Girls Inc. centers are located in the most economically challenged neighborhoods, including one community in which 42 percent of residents make less than $10,000 a year.

The Dallas chapter is just one of many nationwide affiliates of the nonprofit Girls Inc. National, which strives to inspire girls to be strong, smart and bold. In Dallas, Girls Inc. has made an immeasurable difference, giving many area girls the resources they need to graduate high school, avoid drugs and teen pregnancy and go on to higher education. In 2005, all of the Girls Inc. seniors in the Dallas area successfully graduated from high school and pursued higher education.

Beasley is the founder and chief executive officer of the largest group of independent title insurance agencies in America. She has been a groundbreaker for female attorneys since the age of 18, when she entered the University of Arkansas School of Law as the only woman and youngest student in her law class.

Throughout her career, Beasley has worked to help women in the business world, and her sponsorship of Girls Inc. is just one of the many ways in which she has made a positive difference in the lives of girls and women.