Alum Donna Spradlin and her late husband, Kirt, have made a bequest of their home to Cal State Fullerton to support scholarships for students pursuing the fields of aging studies and English.
Their legacy gift will be used to establish the Spradlin Family Endowed Scholarship in Aging Studies and the Spradlin Family Endowed Scholarship in English, Comparative Literature and Linguistics.
“The impact of this gift will be immense,” said Jessica Yirush Stern, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. “Once fully executed, it will allow us to give $40,000 in scholarships each year.”
In recognition of their estate gift, the college’s first-floor auditorium on the north side of the building, used for classes and lectures, will be named in the couple’s honor. It is the first naming gift of the Humanities-Social Sciences Building.
“Since CSUF played an important role in my life, I wanted to give back so other students had the same opportunity,” said Spradlin, who is 98.
“We felt our home, which we built in 1970, was our biggest investment. It will provide the most money to the university to support students who need financial help.”
The Spradlins were recognized with the 2025 Cornerstone Award for their generosity to the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. The award recognizes individuals whose gifts “strengthened the very cornerstone on which the college was built.”
“The college reserves the Cornerstone Award for donors whose gifts will hold up our mission for years to come,” Yirush Stern said.
Since 1997, the Spradlins have funded a scholarship that supports students in the Aging Studies Program. They have also donated to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at CSUF and the Art Alliance in the College of the Arts.
The award is “frosting on the cake,” said Spradlin, who has three daughters, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
“It’s a lasting legacy for my family,” she said.
Spradlin had always wanted to become a teacher from a young age. After graduating from high school in her hometown of Harrisburg, Illinois, and getting married, her family became her priority.
While raising the couple’s school-age daughters, Spradlin decided to return to college. She chose CSUF for her education because of the university’s welcoming atmosphere for older students and affordable tuition.
After graduating with her bachelor’s degree in English in 1970, she completed the one-year teacher preparation program. For 15 years, she taught English and art at Fullerton Union, Troy and La Habra high schools.
“I loved teaching. CSUF did an excellent job of preparing me for the teaching profession,” she said. “I always looked forward to each day I was in the classroom.”
Spradlin shared that her husband of 74 years, who died in 2020, served in the U.S. Navy and was an electrical engineer and manager at Hughes Aircraft Co. He graduated from Purdue University with his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and later earned a master’s in management from UCLA. Both were the first in their families to earn college degrees.
The couple led active lives hiking and traveling the globe, visiting places like Easter Island, the Galapagos, France and Scotland. Their backpacking trips included hiking Machu Picchu and completing the 212-mile John Muir Trail in the Sierra Nevada mountains over two summers. They also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and to the base camp of Mount Everest.
In retirement, Spradlin and her husband became members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, formerly the Continuing Learning Experience.
Spradlin was a dedicated member of the hospitality committee, while her husband served as board president from 2003-05. She participated in activities of the volunteer-run campus organization until last year.
“My degree from CSUF gave me confidence, and I want that for other people, especially women,” Spradlin summed up about giving back to her alma mater. “A college degree gave us a better life.”