Planned Giving
The “ Family Expectation ” of Planned Giving
“ It was just always expected that you give back to that school that served you so well ,” said Mark , whose grandfather was a faculty member at Augustana College , where he and many of his family members attended . “ I figured that Siena has done for me what Augustana did for so many other members of my family .”
The ‘ Heritage Society ’, Siena Heights University ’ s planned giving club , is now named the ‘ 1919 Society ’. This change reflects the year Siena Heights was founded , and also distinguishes itself from the growing Heritage Project initiative on campus . Has Siena Heights changed your life ? Leave your legacy at Siena Heights ! To learn how you can leave a lasting legacy that will impact the lives of others , call ( 800 ) 693-0506 or email at jbrooket @ sienaheights . edu .
Mark and Becky ’ 90 Schersten describe their decision to create an endowed scholarship at Siena Heights University through an estate gift as a “ family expectation .”
“ It was just always expected that you give back to that school that served you so well ,” said Mark , whose grandfather was a faculty member at Augustana College , where he and many of his family members attended . “ I figured that Siena has done for me what Augustana did for so many other members of my family .”
The longtime philosophy faculty member is retiring as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in May 2016 after more than 30 years at Siena Heights University . He said he ’ s seen first-hand how scholarships have impacted students ’ lives .
“ I ’ ve seen so many students who would never have made it at Siena , or anywhere else , without the help ,” he said .
Becky , who completed her master ’ s degree at Siena Heights , agreed .
“ Wasting an opportunity for someone to get a liberal arts education is just a tragedy ,” she said . “ For Mark to have been as involved as he has been all these years , I ’ ve been really proud to be beside him in educating students who need the opportunity for that education . Siena is such a great institution for taking that extra step to reach out .”
The Mark and Rebecca ’ 90 Schersten Endowed Scholarship , once realized , will create and endow a scholarship that will reward qualified students in the humanities , an area Mark said students don ’ t often consider in their career plans .
‘ It ’ s those areas in the humanities that people don ’ t think about majoring in , but that really can bode will for their future lives ,” he said . “ The scholarship is a way of making sure students still realize that majoring in some of those classical liberal arts areas of the humanities is going to be worth their while .”
The Scherstens said the planned giving process was also a beneficial one for their own estate preparation .
“ The benefit of planned giving is that you probably haven ’ t done but should have done decades ago ,” Mark said . “ And I did want to establish something that would have some lasting impact .”
— Mark and Becky ’ 90 Schersten
Reflections Summer ’ 16 | 23