Marilyn Fields graduated from Shaw University and has worked there for the last 33 years.
Marilyn Fields never dreamed of becoming a millionaire. But a twist of fate, and a lucky choice of a Powerball ticket, sent $2 million her way in early July.
The first check she wrote was to her alma mater, Shaw University. Fields’ ties to Shaw run deep. She is the executive assistant of Shaw president Dr. Gaddis J. Faulcon and has worked at Shaw for the past 33 years.
“I graduated in May, 1976, and started to work here in June, 1976,” Fields said. “I met my husband here, my son graduated from Shaw, and I have my job here, so it’s in our blood.”
With her check, Fields fully endowed a $25,000 scholarship fund she had started earlier this year.
“This lottery has provided me the opportunity to go ahead and satisfy my financial obligation for this scholarship,” she said. The scholarship is need based and will be available to any student who is able to maintain a C average.
Though many HBCUs lament the paucity of alumni giving, Fields’ story offers a counterpoint. Fields said that she has always given what she is able. “When I graduated, I wasn’t able to give a lot,” she said. “Sometimes it might not be but $5, sometimes it might be $10, but over the years, as my salary increased, my donations increased.”
Shaw has been the recipient of Fields’ giving because of her transformative experience there. “I think everything I have I owe to Shaw,” she said. “When I came here—I am from a very rural area in North Carolina—I was very green and had not seen very much of the world and not met many people outside of my community. Shaw opened up a whole new world.”
