The School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin recently received a gift of 25 million dollars from University of Texas Regent Steve Hicks, with a portion going specifically to alleviate the school debt of the students of the school, who Hicks says are “heroes.” This amazing gift is one of the largest, if not the largest, ever gift to a public university school of social work.
Hicks himself went to UT and graduated with a degree in government, admittedly a far cry from social work, but something that has always been important to him is supporting people, causes, and institutions that work with and directly help people. He knew he wanted to give a tremendous gift, and researched different possibilities to do so, settling on the school of social work because the work that those students go on to do will affect thousands, and potentially even millions, of other lives.
Steve Hicks “this may be the best day of my life”#SSWmakingchange #UTMakingHistory pic.twitter.com/klMiTBj5Li
— UTexas Social Work (@UTSocialWork) September 6, 2017
In an interview about his decision, Hicks said, “I think we have a great society, but in every social system, parts of it break from time to time, and the social workers are there to pick up the pieces, whether in the hospitals or recovery centers, assisted living facilities and the prisons. It’s not the most glamorous of jobs. I don’t know that I could do it myself, but I have deep admiration for those who can.”
For their part, the university is absolutely blown away by Hicks generosity. They will be naming the school after Hicks, who works in private equity and previously owned a broadcasting business.
The president of UT Austin, Gregory Fenves, said in a statement, “By investing in our social work students, Steve Hicks is investing in a fabric that binds communities together. Social work students commit to dedicating their lives to service and enriching the lives of others. In return, UT commits to support them thanks to Steve Hicks’ generous philanthropy.”
Hicks money will go to directly help the students of the school, with fully ten million of it going to scholarships in a permanent endowment, meaning with this gift students will, every single semester, have less debt because of Hicks. 5 million will go to a program encouraging more donations, and ten million will go to research to further the understanding of addictions so that the students of the school can continue to better help those suffering from them.
Hicks himself has battled addiction in the form of alcoholism, so in that way, the issue is personal for him. However, Luis Zayas, the Dean of the UT Austin School of Social Work, says that for Hicks there is a reason, as a businessman who understands investments. He decided to donate so much money to the school, saying, “When he thought about the School of Social Work, he knew that one social worker could help impact thousands of lives … he knew the investment it could have.”
After incredible gift to @UTSocialWork, we’re renaming it the Steve Hicks School of Social Work #UTMakingHistory #SWMakingChange @lhzayas pic.twitter.com/GvzCPLvxZ7
— Greg Fenves (@gregfenves) September 6, 2017
Speaking for himself, Hicks says, “I’m going to work hard to really drive down that student debt load because what happens is they can’t pay their debt, can’t buy a house and have to leave the profession. That’s what I’m trying to solve … To me, it’s almost doing God’s work. They’re heroes in a lot of ways.”
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Source: Dallas News
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