Alum Donna Spradlin, who is 98, said CSUF played an important role in her life. She and her late husband, Kirt, want future students to have the same opportunity.
The Spradlins made a bequest of their home to Cal State Fullerton, supporting scholarships for aging studies and English students. The legacy gift establishes the Spradlin Family Endowed Scholarship in Aging Studies and the Spradlin Family Endowed Scholarship in English, Comparative Literature and Linguistics.
In recognition of their estate gift, the college’s first-floor auditorium on the north side of the university’s Humanities-Social Sciences 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.
Jessica Yirush Stern, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, estimates the gift will eventually allow for $40,000 in scholarships each year.
“We felt our home, which we built in 1970, was our biggest investment,” Spradlin said. “It will provide the most money to the university to support students who need financial help.”
Since 1997, the Spradlins have funded a scholarship that supports students in CSUF’s 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.