Harold Stowe ’68 Recognizes His 50th Reunion with a Family Scholarship His generous gift will help deserving young scholars, who might come from less fortunate circumstances, be able to attend W&L.
Claudia and Harold Stowe ’68To mark his upcoming 50th reunion, Claudia and Harold Stowe ’68, are establishing the Stowe Family Scholarship. The scholarship acknowledges the family’s deep connection to Washington and Lee. Two of the Stowe’s three children, Dr. Blair S. Sumrall ’00 and Patrick B. Stowe ’01, graduated from W&L, and extended family have also attended the university. “My mother, who went to Randolph-Macon, always spoke very highly of Washington and Lee,” he recalls, “and on a family trip during my teens I fell in love with the campus.“
Stowe, who is serving on his reunion committee, made this gift through a bequest intention and a beneficiary designation from a retirement plan on the occasion of his 50th Reunion. The 50th Reunion is the only time that planned gifts count in reunion gift totals. It is fortuitous that Stowe’s gift also counts for a special matching challenge that has been set up for the Class of 1968 in celebration of the reunion.
“When our class meets the reunion gift challenge, our classmate will give $500,000 of his $1 million directly to our class scholarship, the reunion class project. We have set out to add $1 million to our class scholarship, which we started at our 25th reunion,” Stowe explains. “I am delighted to be part of helping us reach our goal.”
After receiving his M.B.A. from Harvard, Stowe began his career in banking and then moved into business, working his way to president and chief executive officer of Canal Industries and affiliated companies. Following his many years in the business world, Stowe moved into the education sector and became the acting dean of the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business at Coastal Carolina University from 2006-2007. He is currently the principal of Stowe-Monier Management LLC.
Outside his professional work, Stowe is a member of many corporate and nonprofit boards. He formerly served as chairman of the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee and chairman of the Smith Medical Clinic. He also serves on the Wall College of Business board of visitors executive committee and is chairman of the Wall Fellows board.
As higher education has gotten more expensive, scholarships have become a high giving priority at W&L. “We are grateful for Harold’s thoughtful generosity and the spirit in which his bequest is made,” observes vice president for university advancement Dennis Cross. “Harold is expressing his appreciation for the impact and meaning of W&L in his life and that of his family, as well as his desire that one of the best liberal arts educations in the world be available to outstanding young people of character, regardless of family financial circumstances. Harold can be confident the scholarship will transform numerous lives over the generations.”
“Since I have been fortunate enough to have the wherewithal to make this kind of gift, I wanted to help deserving young scholars, who might come from less fortunate circumstances, be able to attend W&L,” Stowe reflects. “I feel a strong loyalty to the school that has given me great advantages as I have gone through my life and wonderful memories that I carry with me to this day. W&L will need our financial support now and in the future. If someone has the ability to make a bequest as part of their estate planning I think our alma mater is a great potential recipient.”
For more information on bequests and beneficiary designations, please contact Margie Lippard in the Office of Gift Planning at mlippard@wlu.edu or visit the Gift Planning page on the W&L website.
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