Impact of Donor Support

Dick Jacobs was the first “Sparky” and had an incredible life of adventure and service. He is deserving of remembrance for his lifelong dedication to Arizona State University.

Many universities, including the school down south, provide mascot scholarships. Unfortunately, Arizona State University doesn’t. Jay and Kay Eldridge became aware of this when their son was Sparky. It is their belief that the time, talent, and out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the students must be rectified so they endowed the Dick Jacobs Memorial Scholarship.

The Eldridge’s understand the University will manage the endowment to the best of its ability and ultimately make decisions on investments and distributions. Likewise, the University will decide on how it can best recruit other contributions.

It is recommended that in the short-term monies in excess of the minimum endowment balance be distributed to students for off campus events. Reimbursement for meals and travel is suggested to be $25 meal allowance per event and the IRS allowable for mileage reimbursement which for FY 2024 is 67 cents/mile.

The long-term goal is for student mascots to receive an annual scholarship of $500 per year.