SWAU Receives $25,000 Gift

Southwestern Adventist University’s Office of Advancement is pleased to announce that the University is the recipient of a $25,000 gift. The gift comes from former nursing faculty chair Laurice Kafrouni Durrant and is intended to create an endowed scholarship in honor of her father and his passion for witnessing and education.

The new endowment will be given to a theology student who exhibits similar dedication and passion for witnessing. The scholarship will be named the Ishak Hanna Kafrouni Memorial Scholarship.

“It’s a delightful day for Southwestern Adventist University when someone creates an endowed scholarship,” says President Ken Shaw. “Dr. Durrant is a dear friend of the University and of education. This is the eighth endowed scholarship she has created. We are thrilled to have another scholarship to offer our students.”

Durrant credits a picture she received of her father on Father’s Day as the impetus for the creation of this new endowment. She remembers her father as a man who lived his faith and was an enthusiastic witness to others, including his own children. Of his five children, two became nurses, two became teachers, and one became a surgeon.

“I am so pleased to give a scholarship in my dad’s name,” Durrant shared at a press conference on Monday. “You know every two years I save up for a new car, thinking this will be the year I replace my old car. But then, something happens! Something more important comes up. God has blessed me so and I really want to share that with others, especially students.”

This is Durrant’s third endowed scholarship at Southwestern Adventist University; the two previous scholarships were created in memory of her husband and mother. Another friend of the University created a scholarship in Durrant’s name in 1976, in honor of her years of service as the nursing department chair.

“I was a student at one time, far away from home, and the money didn’t come very easily,” says Durrant. “Sometimes there wasn’t money for a toothbrush. I always think students now may have similar difficulties and I want to help.”

A press conference was held Monday, Aug. 3, in the Meadows Gallery of Southwestern’s Chan Shun Centennial Library. Durrant officially presented the gift to President Ken Shaw and Interim Vice President for Advancement Tiffany Hernandez.

Here’s the story’s coverage in the Cleburne Times-Review.

Share this: