A Gift Down Memory Lane

In November 2023, Craig Greenway became one of the first donors to establish an endowed scholarship through the Trinity Commitment, a Board of Trustees initiative to use $25 million from Trinity University’s unrestricted endowment as a donor match to create new, endowed scholarships or fund existing scholarships. Greenway, a retired wealth adviser, established the Ruth Metz and Charles A. Greenway Endowed Scholarship in honor of his parents, Ruth Metz ’46 and Charles A. Greenway ’50.

Greenway’s philanthropic journey with Trinity is best told through a trip down memory lane about his parents.

At the end of World War II, Charles and Ruth were both in San Antonio; he was serving in the Army Air Corps, and she was attending Trinity from Yorktown, Texas. One night, Ruth and her sister decided to go to a dance for U.S. servicemen, and it was there that she met Charles. That night, Charles found both the woman he would marry and the University that would shape his future. After he was out of the service in 1946, Charles attended Trinity thanks to the G.I. Bill.

While one world event brought Ruth to the man she would marry, another disrupted her celebration of her time at Trinity. In 1946, the polio epidemic forced the cancellation of Trinity’s traditional graduation ceremony, and Ruth never had the chance to walk the stage with her classmates. Instead, she marked the milestone at home, receiving her diploma in the mail along with a heartfelt letter of congratulations penned by then-University President Monroe G. Everett, who expressed, “You will rejoice in every forward step which your alma mater makes. Her success will be yours, and your success will be hers.”

This family story and timeline are core memories that inspired Greenway to give to Trinity University to honor his parents’ legacy.

“Establishing the scholarship checked all the boxes for me: I could honor my parents, provide opportunities for deserving students, and attract students to a great university, all while supporting my hometown of San Antonio,” Greenway says.

The Ruth Metz and Charles A. Greenway Endowed Scholarship will support in perpetuity students with financial need who are majoring in mathematics, computer science, or education, the same subjects Greenway’s parents studied. Through this scholarship, Greenway is ensuring that more bright students have access to the same quality education that enriched his parents’ lives.