Search

ARCHIVES
CONTACT US
WORLD NEWS

College of Education receives $1 million gift

Tucson philanthropists Lester and Roberta Smith have given the UA College of Education new reason to cheer - one million reasons, to be exact.

The Smiths, longtime supporters of quality education, promised the college a check for $1 million if fundraisers could collect $500,000 for the Lester and Roberta Smith Challenge Grant Campaign, a fundraising drive, said College of Education Dean John Taylor.

"He (Lester Smith) said, 'I'll give you a million if you give 500,000,'" Taylor said.

Taylor said more than 1,800 donors helped fundraisers reach this goal by pitching in $510,000 in monetary gifts, much to the pleasure of education students and staff.

"Everyone's ecstatic," Taylor said. "We're absolutely wonderfully pleased."

Taylor said the Smiths have long been friends of the College of Education, as well as other departments at the University of Arizona. In past years they have given millions to support the college's drug and substance abuse education program. They have also donated money to the UA College of Medicine and the Department of Athletics.

"He doesn't give money to things, he gives money to people," Taylor said.

Taylor said the Smiths' latest contribution will go toward scholarships and student and faculty programs such as mentoring and tutoring.

The couple's gifts to the education college are out of their love for youngsters, Taylor said.

"He (Lester Smith) is such a wonderful person because one of the first and foremost things on his mind is when he can help children," he said. "The way he sees it, we've got to be helping kids."

Sandra Howell, a member of the Dean's Undergraduate Council and the College of Education Advisory Board, agreed that Smith's contributions to education are invaluable.

"It is nice to see that there are people who care about education," said Howell, an elementary education senior. "They know that to get good teachers, you need a good program. The Smith endowment is a good start."

At a ceremony last night celebrating the Smiths' donation, Lester Smith attributed his generosity to his strong emphasis on improving schools.

"I feel strongly that if this country is going to stay a democracy, we've got to do something about our schools," he said.

Well-trained teachers are imperative to this, Smith added. He illustrated this with a conversation he recently had with an acquaintance, who said that teachers do not deserve as much money as they make.

"This lady whose husband is an attorney, a very successful one, told me that schoolteachers are overpaid," Smith said. "It's idiotic. I can't believe anybody would be that stupid."