Professor Pays It Forward to Support Students and Educators
Esther Devall was the first in her family to go to college. Her grandparents were farmers with limited education, and both of her parents had just a high school education. Because she understood the value of an education and how challenging it can be for someone like her to obtain one, Esther feels a planned gift to New Mexico State University is an important and deeply personal way to give back for all the scholarship support she received as a student.
"I never would have been able to make it to college without it, and that made a big difference in my life," she says.
Esther, now a New Mexico State University professor and former head of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, has decided to make scholarship support for NMSU students part of her legacy—to ensure that other students have the opportunity to succeed.
Esther also gives to the NMSU Teaching Academy and to the Family and Consumer Sciences Department, through payroll deduction. And she supports the Family Resource Center that provides free counseling and other programs and services benefitting families and children.
"That's particularly important to me because I think the key to student success is having a good family life," she says. "If you're having a problem at home, how can you focus on your studies?"
In her estate plan, Esther has also provided for student groups to travel for conferences and networking opportunities. "When I was department head here, I always tried to find the funds for our students to travel, but there never was enough to provide all my students with the opportunities they could take advantage of," she says. "So, I wanted to provide a fund for student travel."
Other important priorities for Esther in her planned gift include a discretionary fund for future department use and support for the NMSU Teaching Academy. To read more about the Teaching Academy, see Teaching Academy Gives Educators Tools for Succes, inside this newsletter.
"As I've worked my way up through the ranks as a professor, I've gone to so many trainings and workshops at the Teaching Academy and found it to be so helpful," she says. "With budgets tightening all over campus, I wanted the Teaching Academy to have an endowment that would provide a permanent source of funds—something they could count on."
Create a Brighter Future
Your future gift can help Aggies achieve their dreams. Contact Steven Covington at plannedgiving@nmsufoundation.org or (575) 646-3190 or (800) 342-6678 to learn more.