Joyce Marcus

It was my first art history class at NIU – that was the day I discovered my passion. The lights went down, the first slide came up, and I was hooked. It was the beginning of a lifelong gift that I was given by NIU – the love and appreciation of art. 

After graduation, when I got the opportunity to travel to Europe – the buildings, the history, the paintings... all of the things I had seen in a darkened classroom truly came to life. 

Years later, I was doing my estate planning and thinking of giving a gift to NIU in my will. But, after I realized the impact the gift could have, I decided to do it now. With my $25,000 gift I was able to create an endowed fund to support scholarships for deserving NIU students. I received a beautiful note from this year's recipient. She chose to use the scholarship to study overseas. She was so grateful for the chance and wrote that the scholarship was a tremendous help. It's incredibly gratifying to share my passion with the next generation.

You don't have to give a million dollars to make a difference. Just start – you can always add more later – what matters is that you give.