Why We Gave: “For most of my time at KU, I’ve been involved in the scholarship process, and one thing I’ve seen is that there’s never enough.” —Rita Clifford and her husband, Jack
Administrator writes students into her estate plan
Rita Clifford has helped literally thousands of students during her 43 years at the University of Kansas School of Nursing. She’s currently associate dean for student affairs. She plans to assist hundreds more before retiring, and she’s assured her help won’t end when she leaves KU.
Rita and her husband, Jack, will establish the Rita K. Clifford, R.N., Ph.D., and Jack C. Clifford Nursing Scholarship Fund with a gift through their estate to KU Endowment. Their scholarship will help students who lack the financial means to attend nursing school.
Rita said, “Students today have so many issues and situations that, back in my day, we didn’t have.”
She said students juggling school with marriage and parenting, or first-generation students from low-income families struggling with pressure, were rare when she graduated from KU’s nursing program in 1962.
When she and Jack spoke to their estate planner about setting up a posthumous scholarship fund, they included their daughter in the conversation.
“This decision was between the two of us, but our daughter was involved to a certain extent,” Rita said. “We’ve always thought it was important to give others support. This seems like a natural extension of that.”
Jack said, “If anything would concern me, it would be not having an estate plan. The best way to get started talking about it is to get started talking about it. Trying to avoid the question or some part of the issue isn’t going to help anything.”