This week, Texas Wesleyan officials were presented with a $50,000 grant from the Crystelle Waggoner Charitable Trust, for which U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management serves as trustee. Designated for scholarships, the funds will assist first-generation college students with low-to-moderate income.

Texas Wesleyan University President Frederick G. Slabach accepted the grant personally and expressed his gratitude:  “This is really going to help our students,” he said. “One of our fastest-growing student populations includes first-generation college students, many of whom have financial need.”

The program is dubbed ASPIRED: A Scholarship to Persist in Realizing Educational Dreams. The two-pronged approach is to provide financial assistance and also money-management guidance for long-term academic and financial success.

The funding will benefit approximately 50 students this year. All students receiving a scholarship will be able to attend a financial literacy workshop to provide a better understanding of money management and how to build a solid financial foundation.

Born into a North Texas ranching family, Crystelle Waggoner raised cattle and thoroughbred horses during her lifetime.  A wonderfully generous woman, she established the Crystelle Waggoner Charitable Trust to benefit nonprofit organizations in the North Texas area.  She died in 1982 and over the past 30 years, the trust has made millions of dollars in grants to the Fort Worth and North Texas community, primarily in the areas of arts, healthcare and education.

Founded in 1890, Texas Wesleyan University is a private, Methodist institution offering undergraduate and select graduate and doctoral programs.  U.S. News & World Report has ranked the university in its #1 tier of regional universities in the west for the past two consecutive years.     www.txwes.edu