Continuing an 18-year legacy, Los Altos women keep giving to AU

09 Apr Continuing an 18-year legacy, Los Altos women keep giving to AU

The $137,000 contribution is designated to establish an endowed scholarship fund and provide an eighth direct scholarship for a woman studying at AU in the 2024-2025 academic year.

United Methodist women of Los Altos (California) United Women in Faith recently announced a major gift of $137,000 to Africa University. Of the $137,000, $130,000 is designated to establish an endowed scholarship fund at AU; the remaining $7,000 is a direct scholarship gift to add one more woman to the existing roster of seven United Women in Faith-LAUMC scholars at AU. The source is the Ellen Gillis Legacy Fund, a bequest by a former member. 

“Ellen Gillis was very interested education for women, a cornerstone of the United Women in Faith mission,” said Linda Miller, current African Student Education Fund lead and retired church treasurer at Los Altos UMC. “In addition to her passion for our relationship with Africa University, which she supported during her lifetime, she had a passion for the arts and art education. She died in 2015, and her bequest has allowed our chapter to support not only education for women and the arts, but also many other charitable causes that support and nurture women and children.”

The women started the African Student Education Fund as direct scholarships, given annually and used immediately to help women complete undergraduate degree programs at AU. Initially, they provided tuition-only scholarships. In the 2023-2024 academic year, they transitioned to full direct scholarships, moving from $28,000 per academic year to $42,000 for seven women at $6,000 per student. To date, direct scholarship gifts from LAUMC to Africa University total more than $561,000. That is over the past 18+ years and current to December 2024.

Five members of the Ellen Gillis Legacy Fund Committee met in September. Joining the meeting via Zoom were James H. Salley, president and CEO of Africa University (YN) Inc. and associate vice chancellor for institutional advancement, Africa University, along with Andra Stevens, also based in AU’s institutional advancement office in Nashville, TN.

“Our first perpetual scholarship is now a reality,” Miller said. The Ellen Gillis Legacy Fund will be used to establish the scholarship in the following manner:

• 2024 – $137,000 (perpetual scholarship of $130,000, plus first-year direct scholarship $7,000);
• 2025 – $7,000 (second-year direct scholarship);
• 2026 – $7,000 (third-year direct scholarship); and
• 2027 – perpetual scholarship waiting period ends; one student supported annually from endowed funds.

Although the current academic year began in August, some students began classes with only a very minimal payment and were still waiting to be matched with scholarships.

“One of those students will be matched to our scholarship,” Miller said. “As with the seven direct scholarships we currently fund, the criteria we attached to the new scholarship are ‘a female student in good academic standing who is socially active on campus, has no disciplinary issues and demonstrates leadership potential.’”

The university’s financial aid committee selected Idi Claire Musimwa, a second year Zimbabwean student at Africa University, enrolled in the Bachelor of Medical laboratory Sciences Honors degree program. Musimwa thanked her benefactors, writing: “My family and l have been going through a season of financial difficulties which, coupled with the economic state of Zimbabwe, made raising the fees for my schooling very hard. My dream of finishing my degree at Africa University was slowly slipping away, but your generosity has refueled my flame. I feel my confidence coming back and through your actions l have a refreshed motivation to excel and be the best version of myself.”

The United Methodist women of Los Altos UMC are not only transforming a life, but they are also playing a foundational role in AU’s strategy for growth and sustainability.

“Africa University is so blessed to have the support of  the United Women in Faith and the Los Altos UMC congregation as we empower African women to be good citizens of the continent,” Salley commented. “Los Altos is one of our longstanding Keystone Congregations, and we are grateful to God for their presence in our development. We encourage other congregations and individuals to invest in Africa’s future.” 

Barbara Dunlap-Berg is a freelance writer in Carbondale, Illinois.