Honoring Family by Helping Students

Thanks to the financial assistance of family members, Leo Favrot was able to complete his legal education. When Leo and his wife, Vicky, decided to pay tribute to that kindness, they turned to Southern Methodist University to create a scholarship and an artful legacy.

“We had been discussing for several years how we might both honor my maternal grandfather, Swan Hartwell, and his wife, Edna, and provide assistance to students seeking to further their education,” Leo says. “When I thought back on the wonderful experience I had at SMU Law School (now Dedman School of Law), it seemed like a natural fit to approach SMU about accomplishing those two objectives.”

Honoring Family by Helping Students Working with the SMU Office of Planned and Endowment Giving, Leo and Vicky have established The Favrot and Hartwell Endowed Scholarship in the Dedman School of Law. The experience has been immensely rewarding, Leo says. “Now we know that our wishes can be implemented through additional contributions to the scholarship during our lifetimes and funding formally in place through our estate plan.”

Passing on Opportunities to Others
He says that by “relieving students of the burden of potentially crippling student debt,” the scholarship will help recipients graduate with the wellrounded University experience he cherishes to this day. While earning a Bachelor of Laws in 1966 and a Master of Laws in 1967 from SMU, he not only gained a sound foundation for his future legal career in international business, but also lifelong friendships.

The Favrots also have made arrangements to honor Swan Hartwell in another distinctive way. His original oil portrait, along with the portraits of his father and grandfather, will be delivered to SMU sometime in the future. The Austin-based couple hopes the beloved family heirlooms “will have some meaning when identified with this scholarship.”

The generosity of family members inspired the couple to generously give to SMU, a tradition Leo encourages fellow alumni to follow.

“I hope that our story will likewise spur others to let SMU help them put together a plan to, as Dedman Law Dean Jennifer Collins explained to us, ‘make a legal education accessible to the most outstanding students.’”