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Longtime Friends of the ������ý J. R. and Claire Smeed
Donate $1 Million for Financial Aid

When Thomas Aquinas ������ý began its new fiscal year in July, officials received some delightful news: J. R. and Claire Smeed of Bakersfield, California, were making an extraordinary gift of $1 million to assist the ������ý with its financial aid needs for the academic year.

Their gift did not come entirely as a surprise, but its timing could not have been better. Years ago the Smeeds decided to include Thomas Aquinas ������ý in their estate plan, designating in their will that two commercial buildings they owned in San Marino, California, would be legacy gifts to the ������ý. Yet over the years, the couple found managing the buildings to be onerous and did not want to saddle the ������ý with that long-term responsibility. “When somebody came along and made an offer to buy the property from us, I thought, ‘This is going to solve the problem,’” says Mr. Smeed. The couple sold the complex earlier this year and, from the proceeds of that sale, made a generous gift to Thomas Aquinas ������ý this summer.

“We wanted to do something to help the ������ý now, before we died,” says Mrs. Smeed. Adds her husband, “We hope that other people will see this and think, ‘We can do a little of the same thing, and we can do it now.’”

As spouses and business partners, Mr. and Mrs. Smeed have worked and lived throughout the world, with a broad range of business ventures, such as cable television, life insurance, banking, and newspapers. Over the decades they have also been passionate philanthropists, giving largely to political and legal organizations that defend Constitutional freedoms. Indeed, the ������ý first came to the couple’s attention in the 1990s when it successfully resisted attempts by a quasi-governmental accrediting agency to impose politically correct curricular norms.

When that controversy subsided, the Smeeds remained loyal friends of Thomas Aquinas ������ý. They visited campus regularly for graduations, attended weekend-long Summer Seminars, and chartered buses to bring groups of their friends down from Bakersfield. “The more we saw of the ������ý, the more we liked it. We liked what was taught and how it was taught,” recalls Mr. Smeed. Says Mrs. Smeed, “We admired the purity and the atmosphere of the ������ý campus. You can safely walk around the campus anytime, day or night.”

For nearly two decades the Smeeds have belonged to the President’s Council, the organization of loyal benefactors who make up the ������ý’s financial backbone. In 2009 they were inducted into the Order of St. Albert, the honorary society for those who support Thomas Aquinas ������ý to an outstanding degree. “The ������ý does not take government funds, so it has to get its money from outside supporters,” Mr. Smeed explains. “We want to do what we can to help out.”

“The Smeeds’ gift could not have come at a better time,” says President Michael F. McLean, who notes that, until it is fully endowed, the ������ý must raise $4 million each year to meet the financial aid needs of its students. “J.R. and Claire have been real blessings to the ������ý over the years. We are deeply grateful for their generosity, and we hope, as they do, that their gift will inspire others as well.”