For Miles ’64 and Jan Cortez, giving to Trinity University has always been about more than individual acts of generosity. It has been about inspiring others to consider what they, too, could make possible.
Miles’ active presence at Trinity stretches back to the early 1960s. An economics major, Triniteer, four-year varsity tennis player, and a Trinity trustee for the past 20 years, he has remained closely involved in the university throughout his life. Together, Miles and Jan have supported Trinity for decades, including naming Trinity a significant beneficiary of their estate. In 2022, they invited others to join them.
The couple set out to test a simple idea: Could one gift inspire another? They established the Cortez Legacy Challenge, hoping to encourage 100 people to name Trinity in their will and estate plans. The challenge also prompted donors who had long intended to include Trinity in their plans to formalize those commitments, allowing the university to recognize and steward their generosity during their lifetimes.
Miles and Jan set straightforward guidelines for participation: When someone names Trinity to receive $10,000 or more in their will or estate plan, they unlock $1,000 of the Cortezes’ money for immediate use in any area of Trinity they choose. The couple pledged $100,000 to activate the initiative, creating two powerful timelines of impact: support from the challenge’s funds for students, faculty, and programs on campus today as well as planned gifts from participants that will open doors at Trinity for years to come.
Miles did more than just issue the challenge. He wrote personally to classmates, alumni, Greek Life leaders, trustees, and friends, encouraging them to participate. He followed up with thank-you notes and calls when they did. His pitch occasionally came with a grin and a cheeky call to “spend Miles’ money.”
The answer to the couple’s question came quickly. The Trinity community rose to the challenge—then drove it to new heights. After 100 inspired alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and friends of the university accepted the challenge within just three years, the couple pledged another $10,000 so 10 more could take part. Inspired by Miles and Jan, Amy Carrier ’97 then pitched her own challenge to fellow Alumni Association Board leaders, generating additional planned gifts for Trinity.
“What excited Jan and me from the beginning was the multiplier effect,” Miles says. “We could make one commitment, but if it encouraged other people to think about what Trinity meant to them and make commitments of their own, the impact could become much greater than anything we could do alone.”
“As the Cortez Legacy Challenge builds support for Trinity’s future, its immediate-use funds are already making a meaningful impact across our schools, departments, and programs today," says Megan Mustain, Ph.D., Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Four years after the start of the Cortez Legacy Challenge, Miles and Jan’s original act of generosity has become something much larger: a community coming together to ensure access, opportunity, and excellence for Trinity students today and for years to come.
Explore the Cortez Legacy Challenge’s Impact
$29.5 million
committed in will and estate plan gifts to Trinity
$110,000
unlocked for immediate use across campus
$2.2 million
in endowment capital would be required to generate the same impact as the challenge’s $110,000 immediate-use funds.
100%
of alumni participants are Trinity True.
For more information, contact Kris Howland, director of Gift and Estate Planning, at @email or 210-999-7697.