Couple leave Ouachita Baptist $1.39 million for scholarships

A donation of $1.39 million has been given to Ouachita Baptist University for student scholarships, the school announced Wednesday.

The money comes from the estate of Earl and Nancy McCuin, who were OBU students.

Students “from middle-income families who don’t qualify for other financial aid” will be given priority for the Earl and Nancy McCuin Endowed Scholarship Fund, the school said in a news release.

Earl McCuin was a 1952 OBU graduate. He received a Master of Religious Education degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Texas at Arlington. He worked as a pastor and as director of social work at Lee and Beulah Moor Children’s Home in El Paso, Texas.

Nancy McCuin left OBU during her junior year in order to help support her family after her father’s death. While on an OBU choir trip to El Dorado, a couple offered to pay her tuition if she could stay at Ouachita and graduate. She wasn’t able to accept the offer, but it inspired her to help support other students, including leaving her estate to OBU after her death earlier this year at age 86.

Before Earl McCuin’s death in 1999, the McCuins had retired to Rogers in Northwest Arkansas.

“They wanted their estate to go to students who don’t have the money for tuition,” said Marsha Allbrittion, the McCuins’ niece, who is trustee of their estate, in a statement from OBU. “It will make a difference in so many people’s lives, not only the students, but their families and future families.”

OBU, based in Arkadelphia, has about 1,500 students. Tuition, fees, room and board can cost a student about $34,900, combined, plus personal expenses, to attend OBU, according to the campus financial office.