Related Links
UK Grad Honors Her Mentor
University of Kentucky alumna, Carol Chase Thomas, ’75, ’83, is making a very special gift in tribute to a very special person.
When Carol was studying at the University of Kentucky in 1974, she met someone who became a lifelong mentor and friend. Carol was an undergraduate majoring in special education, and she was assigned to a local school for her practicum and student teaching. Her supervising teacher was Alma Lee Allen.
Known to her family and friends affectionately by her childhood nickname of “Pill,” Mrs. Allen quickly became a professional role model and inspiration to Carol. “As I observed Pill, I realized that special education is a calling,” Carol remembers. “I also discovered that it is a profession which could enable me to make a positive impact on someone’s life, every day.”
With her mentor’s encouragement, Carol finished her bachelor’s degree at UK, went on to obtain a master’s degree and later came back to the University of Kentucky for her doctorate.
Carol was among many college students that Pill mentored. Carol notes, “Over the years, Pill supervised 65 student teachers. Not only did she have a positive influence on the children with special needs in her classroom, but she also helped prepare an entire generation of special education teachers.”
Carol followed in her mentor’s footsteps. After a 36–year teaching career, Carol retired in 2011 from the University of North Carolina Wilmington where she served as professor of special education and associate dean for academic programs. She also has authored special education articles and textbooks.
“When Pill passed away in 2003,” Carol continues, “I began to wonder, ‘What can I do to honor someone this influential in my life?’ Over time, I decided to establish an endowed scholarship fund named for Pill which would touch lives through training others going into this same work.”
At first, Carol thought she would fund the scholarship through her will. She contacted the UK Office of Gift and Estate Planning to establish a scholarship agreement which eventually could be funded through her estate plan. Once that document was in place, however, Carol decided to activate the scholarship with a current gift, and to increase it with a bequest in her will.
“I wanted to go ahead and get the scholarship going because I know there are many students in need who would benefit from an award of any amount, especially in these economic times,” Carol explains.
Ford Stanley, Director of Gift and Estate Planning at the University of Kentucky, observes, “Many times, we don’t learn of a person’s bequest to the University until after the donor’s demise. But when UK alumni and friends make us aware of their intentions — as Carol has done — it gives us the opportunity to work with them to make sure their donative intent will be fulfilled through good estate planning.”
Carol sums up her special gift, “There’s just no way to pay back the special people in our lives for all they’ve done…so we simply have to pay it forward.”