΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ University announced today that the estate of John T.C. (Cuy) Low β39 has made an additional gift of $5.2 million to the Jeanie and Cuy β39 Low Endowed Scholarship Fund, raising its total value to more than $7 million and expanding its impact on current undergraduates.
βAlmost a decade after his passing, Cuy Lowβs foresight and philanthropic planning put him among the Universityβs most generous contributors,β President Brian W. Casey said. βHis legacy lives on through his support, assisting us with the No-Loan Initiative and advancing an important part in ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½βs Third-Century Plan.β
΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ launched the No-Loan Initiative in May as a first step in the Third-Century Plan, a long-term framework for the Universityβs success. Under the initiative, ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ will remove all federal loans from financial aid packages for students with family incomes below $125,000 beginning with the Class of 2024. Support from endowment funds like the Lowsβ and gifts to the ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ Fund make it possible.
The Low endowment began providing support for students by the mid-1990s, thanks to gifts he made during his lifetime. With Lowβs passing in 2010 at the age of 91, ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ received an initial $1.8 million from his estate, and that amount was increased by $5.2 million on ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ Day, Sept. 13.
Per Lowβs request, proceeds aid students in financial need who seek to study English literature. Remaining funds support any students who qualify for financial aid.
Low was an estate attorney who worked with firms like Davis, Polk & Wardwell and Dewy Ballantine in New York City before moving to Jackson, Miss., in 1972 and establishing his own firm β Low & Furby β in 1983. With the proceeds from his lifeβs work, he built an estate that lives on in ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ students who follow in his footsteps as they climb the hill.
βWhen Cuy first imagined this scholarship, ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½βs third century was decades away,β said Andrew Coddington, associate vice president of institutional advancement and director of planned giving. βYet, because of his forethought and planning, he is playing a part in launching the Third-Century Plan, aiding his alma mater as it advances boldly into the future. We thank him and celebrate his memory.β