Art and Cheryl Sappington
Alumni Art and Cheryl Sappington Give Different Assets to Say Thanks
Art and Cheryl Sappington are Millikin alumni who have established a scholarship and used several different assets for their gifts — including from Art’s IRA and from Cheryl’s estate.
“We finally got serious about estate planning,” said the couple, who are new members of the Millikin Investors Society. “Going to Millikin changed our lives, and we wanted to give back so others could have the same benefits.”
The Sappingtons make annual gifts in addition to establishing the scholarship and making gifts to it from Cheryl’s estate and Art’s IRA — which he set up while he was teaching at Millikin. The endowed Sappington Family Scholarship is in honor of Art’s mother, who was a school teacher for rural Macon County schools.
“She was a hard-working teacher,” Art said. “My father died when I was 2 years old, so she was a single mom. She was very strong in encouraging me to get a college degree, though she attended but didn’t graduate from college herself.”
Warren “Art” Sappington lived within walking distance of Millikin for most of his childhood, but he was too poor to attend college right after high school and enlisted in the Navy instead. The GI Bill financed his education: a 1954 degree in business administration from Millikin followed by a law degree from the University of Illinois. He taught at Millikin for six years before joining a law firm (where he and Cheryl met). After that, he served as a Macon County associate judge for 21 years.
Cheryl also grew up in Decatur and also did not attend college right after high school; she financed her education with scholarships, earning a degree in accounting in 1984. She then worked as a CPA for the IRS for many years.
The Sappingtons, who have been married for 37 years, have three children from previous marriages, with five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren (and a fifth on the way). They still live in the area — in nearby Mt. Zion — and their scholarship for business students includes a preference for those from Macon County. They lauded the business education they both received.
“You can’t go through the Tabor School of Business and not look at things in a different way,” they said. “The professors at Millikin are some of the best — invested in the students and interested in their success.”
Art said his favorite time at Millikin was getting to know students when he was an instructor and an advisor to the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity. Cheryl most enjoyed studying accounting with her brother, who on Cheryl’s recommendation transferred to Millikin from an out-of-state school.
They urge other alumni to give to their alma mater. “Millikin has helped all of us to be successful in our careers and personal lives, improved our quality of life, increased our appreciation for arts and culture and gave us a thirst for lifelong learning,” they said. “We absolutely love this university!”