By Hazel Scott
ASU alumnus and Birmingham attorney Eric Welch Guster knows the importance of giving back to the community, especially to his alma mater. To follow that passion, Guster has given the gift of education by establishing the Eric Guster, Esq. College of Business Scholarship in the amount of $50,000.
“The decision to create the scholarship was a decision my wife, Jamie, and I made. As a graduate of the College of Business Administration, I owe ASU everything I’ve done. My years at ASU gave me the educational background, the social network, and the desire to do what I’ve become now, as a lawyer and a businessperson, ” Guster said.
Guster noted that the scholarship will provide financial support for
College of Education students who might not have an opportunity to attend college without financial assistance.
“This endowed scholarship is to help COBA students with tuition and fees who have proven themselves….I want to make sure other students have the financial resources to become successful,” he said. “My goal is to continuously increase the endowment to get it up to the level of a full scholarship.”
Recipients must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, be a full-time time student at ASU, demonstrate a financial need or hardship, have completed all University required documentation to be admitted, and have enrolled in ASU the following Fall Semester.
Guster’s giving spirit is also seen in the community. “Pre-COVID I used to mentor …young people, college students, those that reached out who needed advice on careers or starting their own businesses. I tried my best to be accessible to these up-and-coming young people as I would have wanted someone to be accessible to me. I have two children now and don’t get out as much as I used to.”
Guster, who is the founder of Guster Law Firm in Birmingham and a commercial relator, has appeared on some of the nation’s top news media outlets as a legal analyst, networks such as CNN, MSNBC, The Today Show, FOX News, and Good Morning Britain. He is a regular contributor on Birmingham’s Fox 6, where he said he got his start on being an on-air legal commentator.
Guster also has been a legal resource for newspapers such as The Birmingham News, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.
Guster credits his tensity and determination to ASU.
“ASU set the grounds for my entrepreneurship. My first business was in college selling fraternity and sorority gear, and art prints…and I was running it out of my Card Hall dorm room. The encouragement from my instructions about entrepreneurship and doing things the right way planted that seed that grew over my years as an adult,” Guster said. “The lessons I’ve learned at ASU are still driving forces in my life and career today.”
Guster received his Accounting and Finance Degree from Alabama State University (’93) where he pledged Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and became a member of the Mighty Marching Hornets and Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity.
Guster encourages other alumni to give back to their alma mater to help support our future leaders.
“As a member of the Alabama State University it was my entry into understanding that we have scholarships available for students and we have to make other alumni aware of this possibility of giving,’ he said.
To make it easier to donate to the general scholarship fund, Guster said donors can go to his social media link (alasu.edu/guster).
“To encourage other alumni and friends of the University to give to the Foundation, I will match donations up to $50,000 for those who give through that link. Their donations will go to the general scholarship fund and not my scholarship…the more people give to our students, the better off our students are…Bringing awareness to how we can provide scholarships for our own people, taking care of ourselves, is my goal in doing this.”
