Here are some samples of what we do at Legacy Narrative. Names and details have been changed to protect the anonymity of the institution and privacy of the donors, but each story is a real donor story.
Cheryl
“I’m a first-generation college student,” Cheryl says. “My parents didn’t go to college, but they made it clear that college was expected of me, the oldest child.”
Growing up in a small farming community in rural Utah in the 1960s, money was tight. Cheryl wasn’t sure how she would afford college, but she knew she had to try. “This was back when everything was in booklets and on paper — no website, no online scholarship search,” she recalls. “I spent hours on the phone calling different departments.”
Thankfully, the staff in the student aid office guided her through the options. “They were wonderful,” she said. “I always knew I wanted to be a teacher, so they helped me focus on aid available to students in the College of Education.”
For Cheryl, the scholarships she received did far more than help her fulfill her parents’ hopes that all their children would attend college. They allowed her to pursue her calling as an educator and shape the lives of hundreds of students over the years.
“When I look at my students, even at ages 10 and 11, I see their potential,” she says. “They’re so positive, so upbeat about life. Through them, I see a better future for all of us.”
One scholarship left a particularly deep impression: the Ruth Naomi Watkins Scholarship for Elementary Education. “It wasn’t just the money,” Cheryl explains. “It was the story behind the scholarship. Ruth Watkins was one of the early pioneers in educational methods.”
Watkins recognized early on that students learn in different ways and adapted her teaching accordingly — a philosophy that resonated profoundly with Cheryl.
“I didn’t know it growing up, but I have mild dyslexia,” Cheryl says. “I never caught on to things as quickly as others. It always took me longer. Learning about Ruth’s work helped me understand something about myself. And now I look at each of my students and ask, ‘What struggle might this child have that isn’t obvious?’”
That sense of self-discovery, coupled with gratitude for the scholarship that enabled her education, inspired Cheryl to create a planned gift to augment the Ruth Naomi Watkins Scholarship.
“I’m amazed that nearly 60 years later, this scholarship still exists and is still helping students,” she says. “I want to help make sure it continues well into the future.”
Cheryl’s commitment is a powerful example of how planned gifts help sustain programs across the university. Planned gifts can take many forms — from IRA, bank, or insurance beneficiary designations to gifts in a will or trust. In Cheryl’s case, her gift is a bequest through her will that will add to the scholarship that meant so much to her.
“I don’t have the funds to create my own endowment,” she says. “But I can add to the Ruth Watkins scholarship and help it grow. That’s my way of paying it forward.”
Creating a planned gift, she says, feels like planting a tree — an expression of hope that good things will continue long into the future. And for donors who are already thinking about long-term giving, there are simple tools available.
One of the most common is a qualified charitable distribution, or QCD, from an IRA. A QCD can satisfy the required minimum distribution (RMD) that begins at age 73, while also removing that income from the donor’s taxable income — effectively making it a 100% tax-free gift. As year-end approaches and many people face RMD deadlines, it can be an ideal time to consider a charitable contribution that supports students and programs across the university.
For Cheryl, her planned gift is a deeply personal expression of gratitude — and an investment in the future of the profession she loves.
“If I can help future teachers the way someone helped me, that means a lot,” she says. “It’s a way of giving back and helping the scholarship continue long after I’m gone.”
If you’re interested in supporting students and programs through a planned gift — or exploring the giving options available to you — our gift planning officers would be honored to help you begin the conversation.
Legacy Narrative 