A scholarship started by a Butler graduate in the 1980s has grown into a $12.6 million estate gift. This is the largest estate gift in university history, surpassing the $12 million estate gift from alumna and trustee Rebecca Graham Paul ‘70, M.S. ‘75, to Butler Athletics last year. The $12.6 million will go toward the Butler Tuition Guarantee — now renamed the Morey/Berry Family Tuition Guarantee.
The gift will be invested as an endowment, with the principal remaining intact while its returns generate the scholarship funding. The fund is expected to produce about $500,000 annually, supporting full-tuition scholarships for 10 Marion County students with financial need each year.
The gift came from the estates of alumna Margaret Ice Morey — who graduated in 1929 — and her husband Albert Morey Sr., and its origins predate the current scholarship program. Morey Sr. established a smaller scholarship in his wife Ice Morey’s name in the 1980s. Over the years, the fund grew through investment returns, eventually reaching the $12.6 million that went to Butler.
Jonathan Purvis, vice president of university advancement and marketing, began discussing the potential gift with Sue Morey-Berry ‘80 and her husband Ralph Berry ‘79 around eight years ago. As Berry’s mother’s health declined, conversations became more focused on how the gift could best support students.
“What is really always of utmost importance is that anytime we receive any gift of any size, that we use it as intended by the family,” Purvis said.
Morey-Berry explained that when deciding where the money would go, both the best interests of the university and the family were prioritized.
“Through working with Jonathan, we found what the university had been wanting to do, kind of like a wish list, and this is what fit our family,” Morey-Berry said. “But also, my husband was from a small town in Ohio, and Butler might have been out of his price range without a scholarship. I believe that everybody deserves that if they’ve worked hard and if finances are holding them back, we can help with that.”
The gift also extends a connection to Butler that spans nearly a century. Margaret graduated from the university in 1929, and Sue graduated in 1980 before meeting her husband, Ralph, who graduated in 1979. Now, Sue’s nephew Al Morey IV, a junior strategic communication and organizational communication & leadership double major, is currently attending Butler.
For Emmanuel Lokombe, senior biology major and Butler Tuition Guarantee recipient, the financial support from the full-tuition scholarship has meant more time to focus on academics and his plans for post-grad.
“Getting the scholarship just helped give me peace of mind to where I don’t have to focus on the financial side of school,” Lokombe said. “I could just focus on learning the material and learning what I need to know, and then that will help me get into dental school.”
Purvis elaborated that this endowment will help Butler continue making that kind of opportunity possible for students in the years ahead.
“The single largest fundraising need we ever have is scholarship support for students, and so this just adds to that in a really significant way,” Purvis said.