Donor Stories

Robert '63 and Virginia McShane '63 Bettle recalled working hard to get through school quickly, sometimes taking on several jobs or loading their schedules with more courses. Both loved and graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with education teaching degrees, even though a teacher's salary wasn't much then.
"Today, teaching is still a very meaningful occupation; however, it's important not to graduate with lots of debt because the salaries are not comparable to other fields," said Virginia. "And we wanted to encourage young people to consider the teaching profession without incurring all the debt."

The Bettles set up two scholarships for elementary education and mathematics education majors, and another scholarship for an accounting major. Later, they provided scholarship funds for students graduating from Ankeny, East Waterloo, and Waukon high schools.

"With the cost of education anymore, most students could use the help. Scholarships would help ease their burden," Bob said.

"Plus, I think it's a mental lift to receive a scholarship," said Virginia, "kind of like a pat-on-the-back for good work."

Bob also believes the scholarships would help students get more from the whole university experience instead of worrying about finances.

But this wasn't all the Bettles decided to do for students at UNI. When Bob retired, he and Virginia put together a comprehensive estate plan that included a charitable remainder trust.

"The charitable remainder trust will provide lifetime income to the Bettles and will eventually benefit students at UNI. Since they care a great deal about making opportunities available to young people, the trust was a logical component of their estate plan," said William Calhoun, president of the UNI Foundation.

"We received a great education there. Many of the professors had profound impacts on our lives and career choices," Bob said.

So important is UNI and Scholarships to the Bettles, that they agreed to chair the Students First Campaign for endowed scholarships.

"Scholarships are very important -they are the nuts and bolts of what education is all about. We encourage other people to get involved in creating scholarships, too," said Virginia.

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