ECU’s planned giving society inducts new members
Each year, East Carolina University donors make planned gifts that pave the way for future students, faculty and pivotal projects. This year was no different, with donors supporting areas across campus including chemistry, elementary education and African art.
The Leo W. Jenkins Society honors these philanthropic benefactors and their planned gifts to ECU. The society is named after the university’s fifth president and first chancellor, Leo Jenkins, who oversaw exceptional growth in the student body, faculty, staff and academic programs during his tenure. Jenkins helped establish ECU’s four-year medical school as well as schools (now colleges) of nursing, education, and arts and sciences. Just as Jenkins left an indelible legacy at ECU, donors leave a mark on the university through their giving.
Normally, new Jenkins Society members are inducted at an annual luncheon on campus, but this year’s event was virtual due to the coronavirus pandemic. On Dec. 1, the society inducted 41 new members whose collective planned giving totaled more than $20.9 million. Six existing members added to their planned gifts in 2020.
“A very loud thank you to the Jenkins Society for your generosity — I know it’s a generosity of Pirate spirit, and it’s certainly a generosity of financial resources, and I can’t thank you enough for your steadfast support of this great university,” Interim Chancellor Ron Mitchelson said. “We’re so proud, despite the disruption of COVID-19, of what we’re accomplishing here at ECU. I’m excited about the success of our students and the success of our region. We’ve got so much going on, and we couldn’t do it without you. We wouldn’t be in the Princeton Review of outstanding universities for the second year in a row without the kind of investments and trust that you have in this university.”
Matt Slate, a 1996 graduate of the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences, and his wife, Kelly, made a bequest to establish two new endowments: the Slate Legacy Scholarship Endowment to support students majoring in biology, and the Matt and Kelly Slate Scholarship Endowment in the Pirate Club to support women’s sports programs.
“My dad was an educator, and he always stressed the value of education. It was because of him that Kelly and I established the Slate Family Endowment in Biology,” said Slate, who is also on the ECU Foundation Board. “Once that happened, I began to engage with current ECU students, and it reminded me of that same grit and drive I had when I was here.”
After their initial gift, the Slates kept giving because they saw the impact it had on students.
“I realized how much each dollar we gave took a financial burden off the next generation of Pirates and how thankful each student was for these efforts,” Matt Slate said. “Leaving a planned gift ensures a legacy will continue for generations, and we hope it will inspire those we helped to pay it forward when they have the opportunity.”
A passion for teaching young children inspired Sara Coble Roos ’65 and her husband, Ed, to make a planned gift to the College of Education. Their gift is the largest in the college’s history and will create the Roos Elementary Education Scholars Program for incoming freshmen and graduate students who wish to become, or already are, classroom elementary teachers. Roos majored in elementary education at ECU and said one of her fondest memories was her student teaching experience.
“We want to give back to the universities that provided the skills we needed to succeed and hope we can help someone pursue their dream of becoming a teacher,” Roos said.
By making planned gifts, donors help ECU address its most pressing financial needs, fuel cutting-edge research and make education more accessible for tomorrow’s leaders. To learn more about planned giving options at ECU, visit eculegacy.org.
2020 Leo W. Jenkins Society inductees
Greg Barnes
Chris Battista
Charlie and Nancy Bedford
Robin Webb Corbett
Joe and Janet Covington
Denise Dickins
Barbara Birch Franklin
Preston and Lori Garraghty
Duane Grooms
Dr. Ira May Hardy II
John and Kimberly Love
Jean Maykuth
Estate of Martha Redding Mendenhall
Wesley and Glenda McLawhorn
Larry and June Newberry
Mary Jo Parker
Timothy Patselas
Ralph and Jean Powers
Sandra George Robinson
Ed and Sara Roos
Timothy Royster
Thomas C. Schleifer
Lynn Schubert
Matt and Kelly Slate
Steve and Bonnie Smith
Stewart and Marilyn Smith
John Dalton Sparrow
William Payne Speight
Nancy Vincent
Louis Warren
Jenkins Society members who added to their support in 2020
Rebekah Crouch Covell
Hal and Debbie Johnson
Hershel and Elizabeth Johnson
Wanda Mauney Montano
Douglas and Terry Privette
Eugene and Allison Wright
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