Our USF story

Dorothy and I enrolled at USF in 1931–1932 for quite different reasons. She came because her family wished her to attend a Baptist school. I enrolled because the college was nearly in my back yard—our home in Sioux Falls being only about six blocks away. Also, during my high school years my mother supplemented the family income by renting rooms to interested faculty members wishing to live close to the college. Miss Emma Lou Taggart, the librarian, stayed with us for an extended time. Professor and Mrs. Dan R. James, the music director, boarded with us as well while looking for a permanent home. In a sense, I had become acquainted with the school before actually attending. It was a blessing to have a college so near, for I could continue to live at home, attend classes, and handle a significant job in the city.

When I entered college, I had no idea as to what I was preparing myself to do. In a vague way, becoming a U.S. Trade Commissioner seemed a possibility; selling oil for the lamps of China looked attractive. Becoming Commercial Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo in 1967 made a dream become a reality.

I have always been grateful for growing up close to the USF campus, for the quality of the professors, and, most of all, for its bringing Dorothy and me together 70 years ago. Her faith and her commitment to tithing have enabled us to surprise ourselves in what we have been able to do for others. Besides supporting our church and its programs, we have directed a portion of our annual tithe to the USF scholarship program. In 1983 we established the George L. Shaw and Dora M. Shaw Memorial Scholarship, and in 1995 we started the John Freeman Shaw and Dorothy Burrow Shaw Scholarship.

In addition to our gifts to the University, we are directing scholarship aid to Fuller Seminary and North American Baptist Seminary. Overseas, we support evangelical seminaries in Croatia, Moldova, Lebanon, and Palestine. We believe there is great need and an urgency to raise up a generation of Christian believers who are able to withstand the onslaught of materialistic and agnostic forces that are so prevalent in the world today.

To achieve this goal and as part of our estate plans, we have arranged to leave a substantial bequest to USF for scholarships. We also look upon the gift as a token of appreciation and as a memorial to those whose sacrifices kept USF alive during the difficult financial years we attended.

With Gratitude,
John and Dorothy Shaw