What is the Loyalty Permanent Endowment Fund (LPEF)?
The Loyalty Permanent Endowment Fund (LPEF) was established in 1937 under the leadership of the Executive Council of the West Virginia University (WVU) Alumni Association and Fund Trustees Gory Hogg, Birk Strathers and Charles Hodges to pay part or the whole of the expenses of West Virginia University students. The mission of the Endowment has remained unchanged for more than 80 years -- to help West Virginia residents in their undergraduate years fund their course of study at WVU.
The Fund started solely as a word-of-mouth solicitation collecting a few hundred dollars in its initial year. The money was invested and only a portion of the interest earned was used to fund the scholarships with the rest being reinvested in the corpus to grow the fund.
The LPEF is a branch of the WVU Alumni Association and is managed by three unpaid Trustees and a professional investment manager. Through the years the fund has grown to approximately $17 million dollars.
Scholarships are awarded annually based on citizenship, need, and academic achievement. By way of example, over the years scholarships have been awarded to students from all 55 counties. During the last six years, over 3 million dollars was awarded to more than three thousand West Virginia University students.
While it is a hefty goal, the LPEF is committed to growing to the point that no West
Virginia University student is faced with the decision to leave school because
of finances. With your help we will get there by remembering that the greatest
gift one can receive is an education.