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Check presentation at LIT
Dr. Lonnie L. Howard and the executive team at the Lamar Institute of Technology (LIT) celebrated a $1 million donation from the Gale Foundation with check presentation at Jan. 13 during the Institute’s 2020 Professional Development Day. This unprecedented gesture of generosity to the Rebecca & Edwin Gale Scholarship Endowment is the largest single monetary donation in LIT’s history.
Rebecca “Becky” Speed Gale, a former Beaumont resident and philanthropist who recently passed away at her home in Alabama at the age of 80, was an educator. She and her late husband Edwin established the Gale Foundation, and it was her wish to dissolve the Foundation upon her passing. The Gale Foundation funded educational efforts, medical research, Jewish community initiatives and programs to assist the needy.
Howard expressed gratitude, saying that this endowment “marks a huge milestone in scholarship development at LIT. The funds will make the ‘American Dream’ more attainable by increasing student access, success and reducing their debt.”
“This truly is a great day at LIT,” Dr. Howard said during the check presentation. “These resources really will go far in terms of, not just helping this generation but future generations because this $1 million will become a part of the legacy as far as our endowment…The American Dream lives at LIT.”
Howard said he and the LIT staff and students appreciate the role that longtime supporter and LIT Foundation Board member, Hoke Peacock, played in attracting LIT to the attention of the trustees of the Gale Foundation over several years and his efforts in finalizing the terms of the endowment.
Mandy Clayton, Director of Development & Foundation at LIT, spoke at the event and said that the LIT Foundation would disperse $50,000 annually from the Rebecca & Edwin Gale Scholarship Endowment for scholarships to full-time, part-time and high school dual enrollment students.
“This is allowing to us give $50,000 in scholarships a year as part of the endowment,” she described. “We have tons of other scholarships that we’ve been awarding for the college itself, but the Edwin and Rebecca Gale Foundation is specifically $50,000 a year for any major. So, we have plenty of scholarships. Please encourage your students… that they still can attain that American Dream through scholarships and with lower debt. All they have to do is apply, and we still have some available through the spring.”
As LIT continues to celebrate its 25th anniversary, recently reduced tuition and a large increase in enrollment at the college, Howard also urged prospective students to call LIT to see how the institute can help them achieve their dreams of a brighter future.
“Let’s get the word out,” Howard suggested. “For any interested, potential student, I would recommend they contact our scholarship department and file an application… They need to enroll as soon as possible (for the upcoming semester).”
Contact the LIT Scholarship Office for more information at (409) 839-2956 or email them at scholarships@lit.edu.