UMass Dartmouth announces new scholarship for student entrepreneurs

The Jumpin’ into Entrepreneurship Scholarship rewards equity in innovation

Students at the ribbon cutting for Jumpin' Juice in 2014. This student-run business evolved into scholarship opportunities for students.

On March 16, 2021, UMass Dartmouth launched the Jumpin’ into Entrepreneurship Scholarship, which established an annual student entrepreneur competition to award scholarship funds.

The initial endowment for the Scholarship comes

from a student business project. In 2014, a group of students led by Jacob Miller (’16), established Jumpin’ Juice at the Tripp Athletic Center on campus. The student-run, student-operated juice bar sold drinks to UMassD students and visitors at athletic competitions. The goal of Jumpin’ Juice was to create a way for students to gain experience running a business while donating the accumulated profit of nearly $22,500 towards an endowed future student scholarship initiative. After a contribution from the UMassD Charlton College of Business, the endowment has now reached $25,000.

That future scholarship has taken the form of an entrepreneurship competition that will bring together students from across campus. During the Jumpin’ into Entrepreneurship competition, students will submit business plans to be judged by a panel consisting of representatives from the Charlton College of Business, Frederick Douglass Unity House, and Entrepreneurship for All (EforAll). Ten finalists will be selected, and then publicly pitch their business plans to a panel of three judges from the SouthCoast community.

Students gathering at Jumpin' Juice.

Central to this new scholarship is the promotion of equity in entrepreneurship. During the selection process, the group of finalists must be representative of the current student population. The inaugural competition will award a total of $1,000 in scholarship funds and is actively seeking more contributions to honor the creative thinking and business ingenuity of UMass Dartmouth students.

“The ultimate goal of the UMass Dartmouth Student-Run Business Association was to assist students who wanted to start businesses and invest in the SouthCoast. This scholarship puts equity in entrepreneurship at the forefront and is not only an investment in the amazing students on campus but the region as a whole,” said Jacob Miller. “I want to recognize the work of the dozens of student leaders and other campus champions who operated and made the Student-Run Business Association possible. This scholarship would not be possible without their work.”