An elementary school teacher who became inspired to help low-income students finish college when she heard them lament about rising costs has left the bulk of her estate — estimated at $22 million — to the University of Texas at San Antonio for scholarships.
The endowment marks the largest single gift to UTSA, a Hispanic-serving Institution, in its 41-year history.
The donor, Mary E. McKinney, died last November at age 79. A shrewd investor but unassuming person, she made previous gifts totaling about $250,000. But unbeknownst to UTSA officials, she owned oil-rich land worth far more.
Just as surprising is the fact that McKinney’s sole connection to UTSA was through a few courses she took there once she’d retired, school officials said.
“This is as random as you can get,” says UTSA spokeswoman Marianne Lewis.
In her sixties, McKinney took UTSA courses such as Latin, history and philosophy from 1992-96 out of intellectual desire, Lewis says. She’d earned a bachelor’s degree from Trinity University and a master’s from the University of Texas at Austin before embarking on a 25-year career teaching in public and private schools in San Antonio.
While standing in line with other UTSA students registering for class, McKinney overheard some complaining to each other about needing more than one job to afford tuition. She immediately went to the school’s development office, repeated what she’d heard and insisted she wanted to make things easier for such students.
