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Quinnipiac University alumnus and member of the Board of Trustees, Arthur Rice, has donated $1 million to assist the university’s veteran and military affairs program.

Rice’s donation will be matched with a contribution from the university to fund the Veterans Memorial Endowed Scholarship. This will help undergraduate veterans with tuition for summer and January term classes. The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs’ Post 9/11 GI Bill tuition benefits does not currently cover tuition during those sessions.

“Art Rice’s leadership and passionate engagement as an alumnus, trustee and chairman of the Trustees’ Development Committee is powerful and impactful,” Quinnipiac President Judy Olian said in a press release. “Providing financial assistance for veterans who have served our nation is fitting given Art’s heroic service in Vietnam. As a committed veteran, Art Rice is leading by example.”

Rice graduated with a bachelor of arts from Quinnipiac in 1973. He then attended the University of Miami School of Law and continued to practice law in Florida. Rice served as a helicopter pilot for the U.S. Army. He was awarded a Purple Heart and the Distinguished Flying Cross and several other distinctions.

“As we celebrate and remember our fallen heroes during this Memorial Day weekend, I am gratified to be in a position to provide financial assistance to our veterans,” Rice said in the release. “This touches me personally, and I am delighted to advance the excellent programs already available to veterans at Quinnipiac University.”

More than 200 veterans of each branch of the military are members of the Quinnipiac community. The university was recently named one of the top military friendly universities in the nation by Military Times and Military Friendly Schools. Quinnipiac works with the Yellow Ribbon Program to partially or fully cover veterans’ tuition and fees that are greater than the established thresholds under the Post 9/11 GI Bill.

“Our warrior-scholars are very mission-focused and dedicated to improving their lives and communities stemming from their experience at Quinnipiac,” Jason Burke, Quinnipiac’s director of veteran and military affairs and a former Navy pilot, said in the release. “To have a military veteran like Arthur Rice recognize the need to support their funding gaps in benefits significantly enhances the quality of life of our cadre.”