Monmouth receives $1.2 million gift

By: Michelle Anstett
Editor-in-chief

Monmouth College recently received a $1.2 million unrestricted gift from an alumna who never received a degree from the college.

The gift, which will be added to the college’s current investment portfolio of $60 million, was bequeathed from the estate of Karol Klaus Manley, a native of Peoria, Ill. Manley, a member of the class of 1949, attended Monmouth for two years, before leaving in 1947. While here, she was an active member of Pi Beta Phi.

Her former sisters say she left college in 1947 to marry, and they eventually lost all touch with her. She moved to Louisville, Ky., where she lived for more than 40 years. She passed away in October 2005 in Louisville.

Manley worked for Brown and Williamson Tobacco Company in Louisville for more than 32 years. She attended the former Bowling Green Business University and was the United States’ first female tobacco purchaser. Her attorney said her only surviving relatives were cousins, and she had lived alone for many years before her death.

In addition, Manley was a docent at the Louisville Zoo and a volunteer for the Kentucky Humane Society. She was also an avid world traveler.

While she donated regularly to the college, it was not until 2001 that she made her intentions to donate her estate known.

According to Mauri Ditzler, president of Monmouth College, Manley’s gift is “probably the best of all gifts we could possibly receive.” The bequest, large enough to make a difference in the college’s portfolio, is also an unrestricted gift. This means the college can use the money as it sees fit, putting it toward any segment of the budget.

Some donations, called “restricted gifts,” are given with the conditions that they are used for a specific purpose, Ditzler said. Named scholarships, building projects and department positions with names attached are examples of ways in which restricted gift money is used. Unrestricted gifts, however, can be used for all these purposes, and more. They can be placed in the college’s investment portfolio, helping to accrue more interest and, therefore, allow the college a larger operating budget.

Gifts, Ditzler stated, are “a way for alums to imagine their influence after their deaths.” Since the college’s founding, it has accumulated approximately $60 million in investments. Yearly, the college takes “a return of up to 5 percent on investments” and puts that money into the operating budget used to run the college.

He continued that the amount of donations the college receives yearly, especially that from Manley, “emphasizes that every course we take at college is valuable, every year we spend at college is important.” While Manley did not complete a degree at Monmouth, the college impacted her life enough for her to want to donate.

This gift also emphasizes “the importance for the college of our development staff,” Ditzler said. Manley wanted to help future Monmouth College students, and the development office helped her find a way to influence students.

Ditzler says the development office is “in the business of making people’s dreams come true.” They helped Manley realize “her dream of influencing future generations,” and her gift will “help future students’ dreams of attending college come true.”