Higbie Scholarship Grows by $63K
Since it was first established in the fall of 2006, the William H. Higbie Memorial Scholarship Fund at Huntington High School has grown by $63,000 and now stands at an impressive $773, 405. It has yet to be awarded to a student.
The scholarship carries strict eligibility guidelines and is open only to graduating seniors who want to attend college in order to become business teachers. Mr. Higbie's wife, Cecile included in her will, which created the scholarship, detailed terms regarding the establishment and administration of what is the largest such endowment ever received by the school district.
Mr. Higbie taught business education at Huntington High School (which was then located on East Main Street in what today is Town Hall) from 1911 to 1952. He was evidently a shrewd investor since despite never earning more than $5,800 in any year as a teacher, he and his wife amassed an estate valued at several million dollars.
Mr. Higbie passed away in 1968 and his wife died in 1991. Her will, signed December 21, 1990, created a charitable remainder trust that benefited her two sisters until their death. The will stipulated that the remaining estate assets be divided equally between the Huntington Union Free School District for business education college scholarships, Huntington Hospital Association and the Suffolk County Council of Boy Scouts of America.
Strict Scholarship Terms
The bequest requires that "The principal of the said Fund shall be held and managed by the School District in perpetuity, to be invested and reinvested in any kind of property, real and personal, without limitation to investments authorized for trust funds and without diversification as to kind or amount.
"The income of the Fund shall be used to provide four (4) year tuition scholarships, to be known as the 'William H. Higbie Memorial Scholarship,' hereinafter referred to as the 'Scholarship.' Such Scholarship shall be awarded each year, beginning with the end of the first full scholastic year, occurring at least twelve (12) months after my death, to graduating seniors of Huntington High School who shall qualify as recipients thereof.
"Recipients of the Scholarship shall be selected by a Committee comprised of three (3) members appointed by the Board of Education of the School District from among the Business Education faculty, the general faculty, and the administrators of the Huntington High School. Committee members shall serve on the Committee for such period of time as the Board shall determine but only so long as their affiliation with Huntington High School continues.
"The Committee shall solicit and review nominations and applications for the Scholarship, and, in its sole discretion, select qualified recipients. The amount of a Scholarship shall be determined by the Committee, but shall be of sufficient size as to provide a significant contribution toward the payment of a recipient's college tuition costs, even up to the full amount thereof.
"The Committee shall determine the number of Scholarships that may be awarded in any year. To qualify as a recipient, a candidate must:
"(i) be a graduating senior from the Huntington High School interested in pursuing studies in the field of business education;
"(ii) be accepted and registered into a full-time course of study at an accredited institution of higher learning requisite to the granting of a degree from that institution in the area of business education; and
"(iii) have a need for financial assistance in paying tuition costs incurred in attending such institution.
"To remain qualified during the balance of the four-year term of the Scholarship, a recipient must:
"(i) remain enrolled in a full-time course of study as described above;
"(ii) maintain a 2.0 grade point average or better; and
"(iii) submit to the Committee satisfactory proof of enrollment and grades attained prior to the beginning of each scholastic year during the term of the Scholarship.
"The Committee shall pay the amount of a Scholarship directly to the learning institution attend or to be attended by a recipient to the credit of the recipient on account of tuition charges.
"If the Committee should determine, in its sole discretion, that the Fund income available for the awarding of new Scholarships in any year is so small an amount so that the awarding of Scholarships there-from would not significantly contribute to the payment of the recipient's tuition costs and would serve to detract from the dignity and prestige of the Scholarship, the Committee may determine not to award any Scholarship in any such year.
"Any Fund income not expended in a given year, whether due to reasons described in subparagraph 7, or because the Committee determines that there are no qualified candidates, or because a recipient does not remain qualified, or for any other reason, shall become part of the principal of the Fund, to be held, invested, and managed in accordance with the foregoing."
District Accepted Terms
Before payment of the bequest was made to the school district, Huntington School Board President Robert T. Lee accepted it, acting on behalf of the district and agreeing to abide by all the terms and conditions set forth in Mrs. Higbie's will. School Board members unanimously accepted the scholarship fund in the amount of $710,862.91.
The scholarship was open to members of the last three graduating classes. Since business teacher education is one of the least popular teaching certifications sought after on college campuses, school district officials have no idea when the first Higbie Scholarship award will be made.
"Despite being afflicted with polio, Mr. Higbie was an integral part of our district for more than four decades," Superintendent John J. Finello said. "He was extremely active with the student council and organized a school trip to Washington D.C. each spring. He was quite a fellow."
The Higbie will contained a provision for a separate $5,000 bequest to the Huntington School District in memory of legendary Huntington physical education teacher, coach and athletic director/administrator William Class and his wife, Velma, "for the general purposes and uses of that School District." The Higbie's and the Class's were close friends who often spent time socializing with each other. The Higbie's did not have children.