Washington, D.C. • The Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah has set up a scholarship fund named after an intern in the program who apparently fell to his death from his apartment building here last weekend.

Kirk Jowers, the head of the institute, and his wife, Kristen, have vowed to match donations up to $25,000 for the scholarship fund that will benefit students interning in the nation's capital.

Eric Wright, 23, was found unconscious and later pronounced dead after what Kirk Jowers says was an accidental fall off a seven-story building in Northwest Washington.

Wright "had a passion for public service, current events, and engaged citizenship," Jowers said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, who helped instill these wonderful attributes in Eric. I am honored to have had him as a student, intern and friend."

Wright had just started an internship in the congressional office of Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah. Homicide detectives with the Washington Metropolitan Police Department are investigating Wright's death, though a police commander wrote on a neighborhood police group e-mail that no foul play was suspected.

tburr@sltrib.com —

For more information

O See the website set up by the Hinckley Institute at ericwrightscholarship.com.