Campus Life

Couple Remembers Daughter Through Scholarship

Lea and Loftus Fitzwater III established the Casey Fitzwater Endowed Regents’ Scholarship through the Texas A&M Foundation.
By Sondra White, Texas A&M Foundation June 26, 2008

TAMU foundationWhen Texas A&M University graduates Lea and Loftus Fitzwater III of Houston lost their baby daughter in 2006, the couple didn’t forget the dreams they once had for her. To perpetuate her memory, they established the Casey Fitzwater Endowed Regents’ Scholarship through the Texas A&M Foundation, which will help Texas A&M students achieve their college ambitions.

The Fitzwater scholarship gives preference to students who graduated from a United States high school and who plan to major in science, engineering, education or business, notes a foundation spokesperson, adding that the interest from the $100,000 endowment will generate annual stipends to fund one of these prestigious scholarships.

“We thought through this decision a lot. We’ve had too many friends who got degrees that weren’t mainstream and who had problems getting jobs,” said Loftus, 1993 graduate. “We sat down with a notebook and came up with the criteria on specified majors based on what we valued and how we could help people the most. This scholarship fits what we’re trying to accomplish with our donation.”

Loftus earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Texas. The St. Louis native recently joined Citadel Hedge Fund in Chicago where he will be trading natural gas. Lea’s 1995 degree from Texas A&M is in biology; and she received a second degree in nursing from the University of Texas. She worked in neonatal nursing in hospitals in Austin and Houston before deciding to stay at home with the Fitzwaters’ two sons, Cade, 6, and Cole, 4.

In the past, Regents’ Scholarships were created through funds set aside in the university’s operating budget. To help offset budgetary constraints, endowed Regents’ Scholarships are now being created through gifts to the Texas A&M Foundation from private donors. These endowed scholarships will allow students to benefit from the donor’s gift in perpetuity since the principal is invested and only the interest earned is used to fund annual stipends.

To date, the Hygeia Foundation and Houston A&M Club are the only other donors besides the Fitzwaters who have established endowed Regents’ Scholarships.

Former Texas A&M President Robert Gates initiated the Regents’ Scholars Program in 2003 and students in the Class of 2004 were its first recipients. It is designed to help first-generation college students whose family income is less than $40,000 per year achieve their educational goals. Each year 600 scholarships are awarded to entering freshmen. Recipients receive up to $5,000 per year for four years and have the ability to add other scholarships up to the cost of attendance or demonstrated financial need.

“These are people who need help and whose parents may face economic struggles,” said Loftus. “By providing financial support for an education, we can help a student start on a road that will give them additional possibilities.”

Students who receive the Regents’ Scholarship have significant support once they enter Texas A&M. Since its inception, the Regents’ Scholars Program has grown to include the Regents’ Scholars Peer Mentor Program and the Regents’ Scholars Organization. Recipients also participate in a Texas A&M Academic Success Program, attend the Regents’ Scholars orientation and live on campus during their first year at Texas A&M.

The Texas A&M Foundation helps former students, friends, corporations and other non-profit organizations direct contributions to specific academic and leadership programs. Its asset managers ensure that endowments like the Casey Fitzwater Endowed Regents’ Scholarship retain or grow in value over time so that Aggies will benefit well into the future.

The Foundation is a separately governed nonprofit organization that manages an endowment of $1.3 billion for the sole benefit of Texas A&M University.

Media contact: Sondra White, Texas A&M Foundation.

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