Stones Give $150,000 to OSU Scholarships Benefitting Education, Business, Library Students

Pickens Legacy Scholarship Match will double impact of student aid

Bill and Toni Acosta Stone have a variety of causes near and dear to their hearts, and it shows in their gifts to the Oklahoma State University Foundation.

Toni, a 1963 English major, is a retired educator who taught English, special education and mathematics, and was a counselor. Bill, a 1963 business major, is a retired executive from ExxonMobil, where he worked in accounting and finance.

With ExxonMobil’s generous three-to-one match on charitable giving, the Stones have split their pledge between the College of Education, Spears School of Business and the Stefanie Stone Humphrey and Shellie Stone Endowed Library Scholarship, named in honor of their daughters.

Their gifts will be matched by the Pickens Legacy Scholarship Match.

OSU President Burns Hargis expressed the university’s appreciation for this boost to student support.
“We are extremely grateful to Bill and Toni Stone for their tremendous generosity,” said OSU President Burns Hargis. “Their donations will provide life-changing support for our students. We have been overwhelmed by the response of our loyal alumni and friends as we pursue our commitment to raise $500 million for scholarships and graduate fellowships during our Branding Success campaign.”

The Stones are big believers in need-based scholarships because they both came to OSU on scholarships and were the first in their families to graduate from college. Bill ran for the Cowboys on a track scholarship, while Toni had academic scholarships. They are also proud to say that both of their daughters are OSU alumnae.

Bill and Toni stated they give to various areas because they see so many needs. Bill said their favorite part of giving is meeting the recipients of their scholarships. In fact, they recently received a letter from a student in the College of Education who took seven years off from school to raise her children but is now at OSU thanks to their generosity.

“Getting feedback from those recipients really inspires us to keep on giving,” Toni said. “This young woman will be an elementary teacher and will touch the lives of thousands of kids as well as her own.  She said that she hopes that one day, she too will be able to provide a scholarship for someone in need.”

OSU Foundation President and CEO Kirk Jewell expressed his appreciation to the Stones for their far-reaching gift.

“Bill and Toni are generous people with a passion to help others by giving of both their time and their resources,” Jewell said. “This most recent gift typifies their commitment to touch lives, and our students and university will be forever positively impacted by their thoughtful actions.”

Gerald McElvy, president of the ExxonMobil Foundation, worked with Bill in Gillette, Wyo., at the beginning of McElvy’s career.

“These donations are a remarkable testament to the value placed on higher education by ExxonMobil employees and retirees,” McElvy said. “They represent investments in the future, and provide much-needed funds for colleges and universities to increase their level of excellence.”

Endowed scholarships leave a lasting impact at Oklahoma State because spending is made from earned interest only, leaving the fund’s principal intact.

The Pickens Legacy Scholarship Match was initiated on Feb. 26 at the Branding Success campaign launch event where T. Boone Pickens pledged a $100 million matching gift opportunity for donations of at least $50,000 directed to scholarship endowments made before Oct. 31, 2010. For more information on the Pickens Legacy Scholarship Match, click here.

The OSU Foundation serves as the private fundraising organization for OSU, as designated by the OSU Regents. Its mission is to unite donor and university passions and priorities to achieve excellence.

Oklahoma’s only university with a statewide presence, Oklahoma State University is a five-campus, public land-grant educational system that improves the lives of people in Oklahoma, the nation, and the world through integrated, high-quality teaching, research and outreach.  OSU has more than 32,000 students across its system and nearly 21,000 on its Stillwater campus; with students from all 50 states and around 110 nations.  Established in 1890, OSU has graduated more than 200,000 students who have made a lasting impact on Oklahoma and the world.

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