A legacy built to last: Couple’s plans benefit KU scholarship halls

By Rylie Oswald

Decades after graduation, 1963 KU alumnus Ted Childers still remembers the rules of living in Foster Scholarship Hall: If you were going to flush the toilet, you had to warn everyone in the showers of the impending scalding water.

“This was the unforgivable sin,” Childers said. “The water heater was about the only utility in the building that could be relied on to consistently work.”

Childers and his wife, Sumie, are giving back to the scholarship halls, the affordable student housing that meant Childers could have an education at KU. They created several charitable remainder unitrusts (CRUTs), as well as a charitable gift annuity (CGA), with KU Endowment. They also have named KU Endowment as a beneficiary of their living trust. Through these planned giving vehicles, the couple made a gift commitment that provides scholarships for Grace Pearson Hall residents and maintenance for all the halls for generations to come.

CRUTs, for which KU Endowment acts as trustee pay out 5-7 percent to the donor, allow individuals to contribute highly appreciated assets such as real estate or stock, defer and minimize incurring capital gains tax, and receive a charitable income tax deduction, all while receiving a lifetime income stream. In the Childers’ case, they donated rental property they had owned for many years, as well as several stocks that had appreciated significantly in value. When both vehicles terminate, usually upon the death of the donors, what remains is used to benefit KU as the donor directed. 

Childers grew up in Wamego, Kansas. His dad was a postal clerk while his mom stayed at home, “so not a high-income family even by Wamego standards,” he said.

“KU did me a favor. They let me into the scholarship halls,” Childers said. “Had that not happened, I doubt very seriously that I would have completed college.”

The scholarship halls not only gave Childers affordable housing but also a community. Foster Hall was tight-knit, far from other scholarship halls and smaller than the average scholarship hall. Most halls have 50 residents, while Foster had about 40. It was situated near where the Oread Hotel is now, northeast of campus.

Childers made lifelong friends with his fellow Foster residents. Even over 60 years later, he still meets up with his former hallmates in Kansas City, Dallas, Phoenix, Las Vegas and recently on Zoom.

“It is an amazing group that has spanned multiple M.D.s, attorneys, one CIA pilot, a bunch of pharmacists, industry executives and me bringing up the rear,” Childers said.

Foster’s house mother, Marietta Jackson, brought warmth to the isolated hall. Foster residents looked up to her as a constant presence in the hall.

“Charming, charming lady,” Childers said. “In the evening after dinner, there typically would be 15 guys sitting on the floor in her apartment, talking with her, watching TV. She was just a wonderful person.”

Foster Hall no longer exists; it was demolished in 1974. It had ceased being student housing in 1965 when it transitioned into the Intensive English Center. During the transition, Foster residents moved into Grace Pearson, which Childers views fondly as Foster’s descendant.

Because of his experience in a hall in need of upkeep, Childers knows the importance of supporting scholarship hall maintenance.

“For 50 years, I’ve been involved with businesses and buildings, and they require maintenance,” he said. “If you don’t maintain them, you know they’re going to fall apart. That’s why the bulk of what Sumie and I are going to be giving, or have at least in part given already, is directed at maintenance.”

The scholarship halls have been providing a community and home to students for nearly a century. This year marks the 100^th anniversary of Watkins Scholarship Hall, the first hall for students who had to “walk uphill,” in the words of Elizabeth Miller Watkins, the woman whose gift started it all. The scholarship halls are built on a sturdy foundation of generosity, ensuring that every Jayhawk has access to housing while earning their degree.

If you are interested in continuing the legacy of generosity at KU while also creating your own like Ted and Sumie Childers, you can make a planned gift. For more information, contact Andy Morrison, vice president of Gift Planning at [email protected] or 785-832-7327, or Kristin Shore, senior development director, education and marketing of Gift Planning, at [email protected] or 785-832-7341.ilot