Cindy Hughes decided the best way to honor her family was to give to Oklahoma State University so current and future students receive a gift that never ends. She has pledged $112,500 to endow an academic scholarship in honor of her grandfather and a football scholarship in honor of her parents.

“This gift will put a smile on someone’s face and put OSU in their heart forever,” Hughes said. “I just don’t think you can give a better gift than that.”

The donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Pickens Legacy Scholarship Match, bringing the total impact to $225,000 in endowed funds. In addition, Hughes will add to both scholarships through her estate making OSU Foundation the beneficiary of her IRA and further lengthening the impact her gift to benefit students for generations.

OSU President Burns Hargis expressed the university’s appreciation for this boost to student support.

“We are extremely grateful to Cindy Hughes for her tremendous generosity,” Hargis said. “This gift will provide life-changing support for our students. We have been overwhelmed by the response of our loyal alumni and friends as we pursue our commitment to raise $500 million for scholarships and graduate fellowships during our Branding Success campaign.”

The athletic portion will create the Ben Hughes Family Endowed Football Scholarship. It honors her father, Ben, and mother, Jean, who both graduated from OSU.

“How can you ever thank your parents for what they do for you?” Hughes asked. “I decided that giving back was the best way to honor them.”

The academic portion honors her grandfather by creating the Dale Fetzer Family Scholarship, which will be awarded to students with documented financial need who come from the northwest quadrant of Oklahoma.

“My grandfather played football at Oklahoma A&M in 1920 and he also wrestled and ran track,” Hughes said. “He and my grandmother had a marriage that was truly blessed. All nine of their children who lived to adulthood earned a college degree, with each attending OSU at some point and five graduating from here. They also had six grandchildren and six great grandchildren graduate from OSU.

“I was fortunate to come from a family that placed so much value on education, and I wanted to make a gesture showing the love for education and OSU is still valued in the generations that followed them.”
OSU Foundation President and CEO Kirk Jewell said the Foundation appreciates gifts of both academic and athletic designations.

“This academic scholarship will be a huge help for students who might not otherwise be able to attend OSU,” Jewell said. “And the football gift will be another step toward sustained success for a program on the rise. I suspect Ms. Hughes’ family is extremely proud of the way she has chosen to honor them.”

Endowed scholarships leave a lasting impact at Oklahoma State by balancing current spending of investment return with the reinvestment of return to ensure support of students into the future.        

The Pickens Legacy Scholarship Match was initiated on Feb. 26 at the Branding Success campaign launch event where T. Boone Pickens pledged a $100 million matching gift opportunity for donations of at least $50,000 directed to scholarship endowments before Oct. 31, 2010. For more information on the Pickens Legacy Scholarship Match, visit OSUgiving.com/PickensMatch.

The OSU Foundation serves as the private fundraising organization for OSU, as designated by the OSU Regents. Its mission is to unite donor and university passions and priorities to achieve excellence.

Oklahoma’s only university with a statewide presence, Oklahoma State University is a five-campus, public land-grant educational system that improves the lives of people in Oklahoma, the nation, and the world through integrated, high-quality teaching, research and outreach.  OSU has more than 32,000 students across its system and nearly 21,000 on its Stillwater campus; with students from all 50 states and around 110 nations.  Established in 1890, OSU has graduated more than 200,000 students who have made a lasting impact on Oklahoma and the world.

Top of page ^