As a first-generation college graduate and a retired high school teacher and coach, David Turybury understands both the cost of attending college and the salaries earned by teachers. That’s why he and his wife, Sheila, established the Turybury Family Endowed Scholarship Fund to provide need-based support for students from rural areas of South Carolina who are pursuing an education degree. The Turyburys’ daughter Emily is entering her senior year at USC, where she is majoring in sport management.

“Carolina has been integral in my life,” Turybury says. “Dr. Rink in particular stands out for her incredible excellence in teaching. She’s a gifted human being.”

The Turyburys designated a percentage of their 403(b) retirement plan to establish the scholarship in honor of Judith Rink, a retired professor of physical education at Carolina. Retirement designations are one of the easiest gifts to make to the university, requiring just a simple change in the plan’s beneficiary.

Retirement accounts donated to a nonprofit, such as the USC Educational Foundation, offer a cost-eff ective tax savings for people who want to have a meaningful impact.

David Turybury came to Carolina from western New York for graduate school in 1990 and worked as a graduate assistant before spending 27 years teaching health and physical education in elementary, middle and high schools in Maryland. Along with teaching, he spent 31 years coaching football, basketball and softball in Baltimore County.

“When I came to USC as a grad assistant, that experience was huge for me. I grew up in a rural area, farm country. To give a scholarship for teachers who also are from rural areas, that’s important to me,” he says. “Teachers don’t make a whole lot, so if I can provide a scholarship for them to have a little less debt coming out of college, that’s a good thing. I’m trying to help however and wherever I can, especially teachers. I know how little they make.”

Judith Rink was the head of the P.E. department at Carolina when Turybury was on campus. She, like Turybury, earned her undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Cortland.