Gift Planning Strategies from Colorado School of Mines FALL 2023
New Heritage Society Members
Donor Profile: Pat ’80 and Ken Cummings ’73
Giving Through Your Will Leaders and Their Legacies
Mines Shines in 150-Year Military Partnership
May—September 2023
The Mines Heritage Society honors individuals who have committed a gift to the Colorado School of Mines Foundation from their wills, retirement plans, life income gifts or other deferred gift arrangements.
Anonymous
Supports the University Honors and Scholars Programs
Anonymous
To be decided
Joe ’68 and Jane Gray [D]
Supports the Joe and Jane Gray Endowed University Chair Fund
Howard E. Janzen ’76 ’77
Supports the Janzen Family Pitch Deck in the Beck Venture Center
Julie A. Kinder ’83
Supports the Arthur Lakes Library
James B. Mollison ’58
Supports the Student Emergency Fund
Jeff ’82 and Gina Vaughan
Unrestricted support for the Mines@150 campaign
Learn more about the Heritage Society online at plannedgiving.mines.edu/mines-heritage-society
Ken ’73 and Pat ’80 Cummings agree that the best part of attending Mines was finding each other. Coming in at a close second: the opportunities and adventures that graduating from Mines created in their lives. Now, the couple has created the Ken and Pat Cummings Veterans Support Endowed Fund at Mines through a qualified charitable distribution from Pat’s IRA, with an additional estate gift that will ramp up impact after their lifetimes.
Ken served in the U.S. Army from 1966 to 1968 and attended Mines using his veterans’ education benefits. He said they greatly benefited from support from the Mines veterans group while they were students.
“Somewhere there will be a veteran who is struggling with financial issues, like paying for tuition and rent,” he said. “Or maybe a veteran wants to do an activity that’s expensive. We’re not saying how the money can be spent. It’s an angel endowment for veterans at Mines.”
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Ken and Pat in front of the president’s house, where they lived as caretakers.
FROM PAGE 3)
The Cummings met at an International Club party a few days after Pat started at Mines. Ken was a sophomore. “Two of the girls in my dorm were from Saudi Arabia, and they invited me,” she said. “When we got there, here’s this guy holding court in a circle of men, wearing a hard hat—it was raining—a sweater and shorts. I thought, that’s an interesting guy. The next thing I know, someone taps me on the shoulder, and it’s him.”
A few days later, Pat told her mom she had met the man she was going to marry. Ken said: “I didn’t figure that out until about six months later. But we were meant to be there and meet each other. We got married about a year after that, when I was a junior and she was a sophomore.”
Finding married student housing was quite difficult. The couple lucked into an apartment in a converted motel owned by the Mines veterans association for $50 a month. They were part of a veterans study group as well.
“I don’t know if we could’ve continued at Mines as a couple if we hadn’t had that opportunity,” Pat said.
The next year, the Cummings lived in a second-floor bedroom in the Mines president’s house, all because Ken is an outgoing guy, Pat said. Dr. Guy T. McBride was president.
“In my first year, President McBride told us to come by for a beer anytime the porch light was on,” Ken said. “Of course we took him up on it. When he needed a married couple to live in the house and watch it while they were away, they asked us if we were interested. We had a free place to live and got to enjoy Becky McBride’s cooking and baking skills.”
That year, the chief of a huge South Africa mining company spoke to Ken’s mineral economics class. He asked for the man’s contact information, and a few months later, they were in South Africa an auspicious start to Ken’s long career in mine health and safety. Pat finished her degree after they returned to Colorado.
The couple are now retired in Utah. In the fall, they continue their excitement for learning by taking a class together at a nearby university. This year, it’s geomorphology. They also enjoy Ken’s huge collection of rocks they’ve collected from around the world and have bequeathed one specimen to the Mines Museum as part of their gift.
“We agreed early on that we would give back to our community,” Pat said. “At first, we found out we could give time since we didn’t have money. As we’ve gotten along in life, we can give money. We benefited from the veterans group at Mines, so it makes sense to put it to good use.”
Your support of Colorado School of Mines can last far beyond your lifetime. Gifts from your will or trust enable you to provide important support for the future of Mines. Like President Paul Johnson and Foundation CEO Brian Winkelbauer, you can choose to have an impact on the area at Mines that will receive your gift. Gifts from estates can fund any program at Mines including scholarships, research and faculty support.
Mines has left a permanent mark on our lives, and we’re committed to leaving a mark on Mines with gifts to the university in our wills. Want to join us? No tattoo required.
In May 2023, Mines was listed as a top military-friendly school for the sixth straight year by U.S. Veterans Magazine. It’s a continuation of honors in the school’s rich, 150-year history of partnering with the U.S. Military.
In 1874, when Mines was founded, Military Science was one of its first three departments. For decades, Mines was called “The West Point of the Rockies” by aspiring students and “The backbone of the Corps of Engineers” by Army generals, because so many Mines engineers were part of it.
Fast forward to 2023. Mines faculty receive millions of dollars annually in Department of Defense research awards. Military branches and active-duty personnel contract with Mines to conduct research with experts at the school’s exceptional facilities. Mines has also produced more Army and Air Force officers (more than 2,500 to date) and received more accolades than many, much bigger schools.
Due to robust Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and Veteran programming and opportunities, the school draws undergraduate and graduate students, including veterans and active-duty military from all branches, to gain an extraordinary education requiring the same rigor and determination military service requires. “Mines has an exceptional reputation for developing knowledgeable and adaptable engineers that can work in teams to solve the nation’s toughest challenges,” said David Ray ’91, an ROTC veteran who retired after 28 years of service.
“Here at Mines ROTC we take pride in transforming world class students into world class officers for our military,” said Sergeant First Class Joshua Nearhoof, U.S. Army Instructor of Military Science and ROTC Director. The current Army class includes 24 students from Mines (8 of which are female) and is part of the Golden Buffalo Battalion at CU Boulder, which brings together both Army and Air Force ROTC from 13 Colorado campuses.
Cadets participate in physical training, military science classes and a lab weekly, with first-and second-year students gaining the skills they’d learn in basic training. Junior year focuses on leader development to meet the Army leadership requirements. Seniors then run the program with supervision to finesse their leadership skills before they become commissioned officers. ROTC graduates serve four years of active duty or six years in the National Guard in exchange for college funding.
Veterans and active-duty military at Mines also have a strong presence, and Veteran Affairs (VA) certifications continue to grow. Mines Veterans Alliance, an organization founded in 2016, acts as the voice of veterans on campus and builds community among students.
Alumni volunteer mentors and class speakers can make a big impact on future and current officers. Scholarships to help ROTC and veteran or active-duty students with costs are also of great importance. Other opportunities for veteran alumni involvement include the Boots to Suits fund for veterans who need help buying business attire, Heros Dinner fundraiser, Lunch and Learns, cookouts and tailgates. Contact csmfoundation@mines.edu to support any of these initiatives.
Military at Mines
1874 Year military science began at Mines
4 Mines was one of the first four schools in the U.S. to establish ROTC
$80,248,760
DoD research funding to Mines from 2015 to 2023
220 Students using VA education benefits in the fall ’23 semester
2,500+ Number of military officers from Mines
41 Current Mines Army and Air Force ROTC students
According to recent statistics compiled by Giving USA: Total giving reached an estimated $499 billion. Bequest giving amounted to $46 billion —roughly 9% of total gifts (2022).
