A $1.6 million gift from 1934 Ball State University graduates Marie and Gilbert Peart will provide students with scholarships for years to come.
The university received the gift following the death of Gilbert Peart in 2007. Marie Alice Peart died in 2006.
Ball State received the money from the couple's estate, Phil Purcell, vice president for planned giving and endowment stewardship for the Ball State Foundation, said.
Purcell said the gift is being put toward a permanent scholarship fund.
The Ball State Foundation is investing the money as an endowment and is planning to spend only a percentage of the money each year, allowing the scholarship fund to be replenished every year, Purcell said.
Alice Prettyman, planned giving consultant for the Ball State Foundation, said she knew the Pearts on a personal level and spoke of the couple's love for Ball State.
"They were committed to helping students," she said.
Prettyman said the highlight of the Pearts' year was to meet the students who received their scholarship. Each year, the couple would drive to Muncie from Fresno, Calif., to meet the recipients. They would attend a dinner with Ball State faculty, administrators and their annual scholarship recipients at the Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry, Prettyman said.
The Pearts requested a report be sent to them every year, documenting the names of all their scholarship recipients, Prettyman said, along with the amount of money each individual received. They wanted to know how many students they had helped.
Prettyman said Gilbert Peart kept all the letters from the scholarship recipients in a notebook.
Prettyman said the Pearts' scholarship fund began producing awards during the 1986-87 academic year, with a beginning balance of $5,000.
The Pearts continued to contribute to the fund every year. In 2006, the last year the Pearts received a fund report, their fund balance was $91,655, she said.
Marie Peart, an Anderson native, earned her bachelor's degree in 1934 from what was then Ball State Teachers College, according to "The Immortality of Influence," an autobiography written by Gilbert Peart. She received her master's degree in education from Indiana University in 1939.
Gilbert Peart, also an Anderson native, received his bachelor's degree from Ball State Teachers College in 1934 as well, according to the autobiography. He received his doctorate in education from IU in 1961. After teaching in Illinois for seven years, he returned to Anderson to teach. Upon his return he met and married Marie Alice. In the late 1950s the couple moved to Fresno, Calif., where they continued to teach, according to the autobiography.
When Gilbert Peart attended Ball State Teachers College, social science professor Robert LaFollette, which LaFollette Complex is named for, had quite an influence, according to his autobiography.
Prettyman said during a casual conversation between the two, LaFollette used the terms "immortality of influence." Peart described this to Prettyman as the most valuable lesson he had learned in life.
Prettyman said this meant a lot to Peart, as he felt that his influence of love and commitment for Ball State could be used in helping students.
The Pearts had a strong love and dedication for Ball State, Purcell said. The couple continued to support the university 74 years after graduation and even in death.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
