The marker says: On April 11, 2002, the University received the largest gift in the history of U.S. public higher education — a $300 million challenge gift from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation. The gift established and endowed an undergraduate honors college and the graduate school. Its express purpose was to elevate the University and the State of Arkansas, “placing an aspiring flagship public university on a level playing field with the best public universities in America.” The gift was the fifth-largest ever to any American university, public or private. The Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation was established by the family of the late Sam M. Walton, creator of the world’s largest corporation, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. of Bentonville, Ark.