August 9, 2000

PERKINS SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY RECEIVES SCHOLARSHIP SUPPORT TOTALING $12.1 MILLION

DALLAS (SMU) -- A collective total of $12.1 million has been pledged for scholarships in Southern Methodist University's Perkins School of Theology. Donors include 15 area conferences in the United Methodist Church's eight-state South Central Jurisdiction; Charles and Elizabeth Perkins Prothro of Wichita Falls, Texas; and other individuals in the jurisdiction. The Prothros' $4.7 million grant matching conference and individual pledges provided impetus for the highly successful theology scholarship campaign. Their son, C. Vincent (Vin) Prothro, and his wife, Caren, pledged $1 million to the Perkins campaign.

"This ambitious scholarship campaign represents an unprecedented partnership between church and theology school," said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. "We are deeply grateful for the vision of Charles and Elizabeth Prothro and the commitment of conferences throughout the jurisdiction to help Perkins School of Theology meet the challenge of preparing leadership for The United Methodist Church's ministry in the 21st century."

The Texas Conference, which serves the Houston-Galveston area, set a high standard for other conferences to follow with its pledge of $1 million, matched by the Moody Memorial First United Methodist Church in Galveston. The remaining conference donors have pledged to raise between $100,000 and $1 million each, to be matched by the Prothro family and the Perkins Foundation.

"The generous response of the jurisdictional conferences in this scholarship campaign exceeded our high hopes and expectations," said Perkins Dean Robin W. Lovin. "These combined gifts will help to make a Perkins education affordable for promising and dedicated ministerial candidates throughout the South Central Jurisdiction."

Perkins School of Theology is the first of SMU's six degree-granting schools to meet and exceed its goal in SMU's $400 million campaign. The theology school has received commitments of more than $40 million, or 110 percent of its goal. Co-chairs of the Perkins campaign are Mouzon Biggs Jr., pastor of Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Okla.; Charles R. Millikan, pastor of Moody Memorial First United Methodist Church in Galveston; and Vin Prothro, chairman of Dallas Semiconductor.

Launched in 1997, the five-year SMU campaign is the most ambitious fund-raising effort in the university's history, with the largest goal ever sought by an institution in North Texas. The campaign seeks endowment and other support to continue strengthening the quality of students, faculty, academic programs and selected facilities at SMU.

The SMU theology school, one of SMU's three original schools that opened in 1915, was renamed in 1945 to honor benefactors Joe and Lois Perkins of Wichita Falls. Today it is one of five university-related theological institutions of The United Methodist Church.

Distinctive programs of Perkins School of Theology include an innovative Mexican American Program that prepares students for ministry in bilingual settings, the Perkins Intern Program giving students experience relevant to their ministry objectives, the Center for Methodist Studies and the Center for the Advanced Study and Practice of Evangelism. Perkins offers extension programs in Houston/Galveston and Oklahoma City that allow students to begin preparation for careers in ministry while continuing to live and work in these areas.