A Family’s Inspired Philanthropy

As many Baylor Parents have experienced, it wasn’t until their daughter, Reese, was deep into her college search that Baylor became more than a name on a list for Ron and René Albee, of Spicewood, Texas.

Reese determined in high school that she wanted to be a nurse. Baylor made the short list of schools, and it was during Reece’s first two years at the Waco campus that René and Ron had their first encounter with supporting scholarships at the Louise Herrington School of Nursing (LHSON).

“Ron saw a mailer about the Louise Herrington School of Nursing Gala and said, ‘I want to support this. I want Reese to feel that we’re supporting what she’s doing, and that we’re behind her,’” René said.

Reese found her place at the Waco campus, and René admitted her concerns, like any loving parent, about how Reese would handle the change of moving to Dallas and the loss of regular contact and camaraderie with her newfound friends in Waco. Then in August, Ron and René headed to Dallas from Austin for a parent orientation meeting, and that’s when things changed.

“I was very, very impressed with the way the nursing school had student representatives from all levels, sharing what our students would be covering through their classes and sharing a bit of the testing schedule,” René said. “As a retired educator, I so appreciated that! It really hit home that their presentations would spare Reese — and us — from parent ‘interviews’ about all the details and allow us to visit with her more generally, more personally, about her life and school in Dallas. How terribly insightful of the nursing school to give us that gift! It was also evident that the program is very much designed to support the student in the struggle of academic pursuit. Everything about the program struck me as spot-on, developmentally appropriate. I could not have tailored a better program for her.”

For René and Ron, seeing Reese thrive in her Nursing classes led them to consider other ways they could support her and, by extension, LHSON’s faculty, staff and students. After making a gift in support of a faculty and staff luncheon, René was moved to receive a heartfelt thank you call from Janis Kovar, A.B.C. ’97, LHSON’s senior director of development. 

Subsequent conversations with Kovar and LHSON Dean Linda Plank, B.S.N. ’77, Ph.D.,  about René’s career in higher education led to deep discussions about scholarship programs for Baylor nursing students. In short order, René honed in on LHSON’s Distance Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (DABSN) program.

“I was interviewing Janis and Dean Plank, feeling out the way Baylor funds scholarships and asking more and more questions about programming,” René said about their conversation. “When I found out about the distance learning program for people who live in rural and underserved areas, about how DABSN makes it possible for them to stay where they live, I thought, that’s got our names all over it.”

The program struck a chord. DABSN is an accelerated nursing program for students who have previously completed a bachelor’s degree. The one-year online program for Texas residents allows LHSON to reach students for whom a move to Dallas is not feasible. The flexibility and accessibility also helps the school reach students who may live in rural or other underserved communities, and who intend to remain in those communities upon completion of their nursing degree.

Many of the program’s students are looking to start second careers, and René was reminded of her mother’s academic journey.

“My parents were divorced when I was very young. In the early ’70s, my mother took a second mortgage on the house, went to community college and then undergrad, and put herself through law school,” René shared. “She worked by day and went to school at night. I spent many of my kindergarten and first-grade evenings in night classes with her.”

René remembers the financial assistance her mother received to make her education possible, as well as the strength of her mother in pursuing a brighter future for her family.

“I started to realize how much my mom gave up and sacrificed to ultimately become financially independent, which she did,” René said. “And I am really motivated to help people in the same circumstances.”

That help became a gift to establish the Albee Family Endowed Scholarship in Nursing for students enrolled in the DABSN program. As an endowed fund, the gift is invested through Baylor’s endowment, and the earned interest will fund an annual scholarship for the life of the school.

What started as a gift to show Ron and René’s support of Reese’s chosen career path has now become a family’s story of philanthropy. Generations of Baylor nurses will now count the Albee family as part of their successful Baylor journeys. What a family legacy.  

If you’re interested in supporting students through life-changing scholarships, contact University_Advancement@baylor.edu.