Donna and Steven Leist have established the Donna '92 and Steven Leist '93 First-Generation College Student Scholarship. Distributions from this endowment will be used to provide one or more scholarships to full-time students in good standing pursuing an undergraduate degree in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University.
Steven’s uncle was class of 1977, so he was always partial to Texas A&M. “Coming out of high school, A&M just seemed like the best fit for me from both a values and quality of education perspective,” he said. “My years at A&M were some of the best years of my life.”
Steven felt like the computer engineering coursework set him up for success in his career. But more than just the coursework, he said his entire experience at Texas A&M was hugely impactful. “I met my wife Donna at the Baptist Student Union,” he said. “The BSU also provided a place where I was able to deepen my faith and I made lifelong friendships. Additionally, the experiences working in the MSC Student Programs helped me gain leadership skills I still use to this day.”
As for Donna, she grew up in College Station and was immersed in the Aggie spirit from a young age, so she knew she wanted to attend Texas A&M.
Steven serves on the advisory council for the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, where he gets to work alongside the departmental leaders to help make Texas A&M's computer science department one of the premier programs in the country.
“Through that engagement, I learned just how far the computer science department lags behind other departments in scholarships for students,” he said. “So, several years back, my wife and I created our first endowed scholarship for computer science students.”
Steven noted how this last year had been trying on many fronts, including the pandemic and the social justice issues. “As we began educating ourselves on the issues and discrimination faced by many different groups in America over the course of our history, we talked about wanting to create another scholarship to help these students,” he said.
The Leists decided to focus on first-generation college students as Steven noticed that statistics show that these students end up leaving college with much more college debt than students who come from families where the parents are college educated.
“This higher debt just creates more hurdles for these first-generation students as they try to build wealth and provide for their families,” Steven said. “We hope that our scholarship can help lessen the financial burden for first-generation students and allow them to begin building generational wealth.”
How to Give
The College of Engineering is one of the leading engineering programs in the United States, ranking first in undergraduate enrollment and ninth in graduate enrollment. Endowments supporting the students in the college have an immeasurable impact on their education. If you are interested in supporting the College of Engineering and its departments or would like more information on how you can give, please contact True Brown, senior director of development.