HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall University President Brad Smith and First Lady Alys Smith announced a historic gift Tuesday morning.
The Smith’s will be contributing a historic $50 million to the Marshall For All program. The $50 million gift is the largest Marshall University has ever seen, and the largest personal contribution made by a sitting university president to their own institution.
The Marshall For All program, which launched in 2023 under the guidance of Smith, aims to get more students through college without accumulating much debt. The program combines scholarships, grants, work opportunities and family contributions.
In a shared statement, the Smiths explained their reasoning for such a large gift.
“We are honored to support Marshall University and the Marshall For All program with this gift. Our ‘why’ is simple: to level the playing field in West Virginia and Appalachia. We hope this gift ensures that every student with the dream of an advanced degree has the opportunity and support to achieve it, while also showing what’s possible for the future of higher education in our region and beyond,” the statement said.
President Smith says this is about a promise he made to help the next generation afford to go to college.
“Three years ago, on my father’s birthday, I stood in front of James E. Morrow Library and made a commitment to this university and the people of West Virginia that one day all Marshall students will be able to graduate debt-free,” he said. “My father and mother have always been and remain my moral compass. They committed to providing an opportunity for their children to attend college and sacrificed to ensure my brothers and I could do so. It was a promise made and kept. Alys and I are blessed to transform that promise into the privilege to pay it forward. This gift is our promise to make that dream a reality for others who possess the aspiration and the grit to try.”
The university has announced plans of expanding Marshall For All over the next decade with a goal of ensuring all students can graduate debt-free by the university’s bicentennial in 2037.