Kasleys Blend Lifetime and Legacy Gifts to Support Generations of Bradley Scholars
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William (Bill) Kasley grew up in nearby Pekin, Illinois. He was one of the earliest students in the speech and debate team pipeline from Pekin High to Bradley and was recruited to the program by coach George Armstrong. Helen was a national merit scholar in high school in Chicago, and Bradley offered her a full tuition, room-and-board scholarship.
They met at a Sigma Nu back-to-school party in the fall of 1969, dated throughout their four years at Bradley, and married after graduation before heading off to graduate schools and the real world. “It’s fair to say Bradley is where it all began for us,” they say. “It was the start of our lifelong personal and professional journeys.”
Just as Bradley did for Helen, the couple has established the William and Helen Czachorski Kasley Scholarship to help students who possess a demonstrated record of academic excellence be able to afford a Bradley education. The Kasleys have funded this endowed scholarship through ongoing cash donations, gifts using appreciated common stock (to avoid capital-gain tax), and qualified charitable distributions from their self-directed IRAs.
In addition to their lifetime giving, Bill and Helen have included supplemental funding for this scholarship through their estate plan by providing a percentage residuary bequest in the charitable provisions of their revocable living trust. “We are also considering contingent beneficiary revisions for our IRAs to add yet more dollars to this endowed fund,” Bill says.
“Bradley University prepared us well for graduate-level study in law for Bill and psychology and law for me,” Helen says. “We have been and always will be grateful for the education we received at Bradley and, in my case, for the financial assistance that made it possible.”
Bill and Helen encourage others to join them in making both current and planned gifts to support future students. “This is our version of not only pay it back but also pay it forward,” they conclude. “It is a means by which we can offer financial assistance to future generations of Bradley University scholars. Hopefully, some of the beneficiaries of our scholarship will do the same.”
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