Couple’s auto problems lead to $1.9 million gift to Cumberlands

Future University of the Cumberlands students have a New York woman and a Cumberland College student, who stopped to help her and her husband when their car broke down several years ago, to thank for some future scholarship money.
University of the Cumberlands officials announced last week that Sarah L. Bornscheaer recently bequested $1.9 million to University of the Cumberlands to provide scholarships for deserving Appalachians to attend the university.
Bornscheaer and her husband were traveling along Kentucky’s US25W several years ago when their car broke down near the town of Williamsburg. Strangers stranded in an unfamiliar town, the couple had nowhere to turn. To make matters worse, Sarah Bornscheaer had only one leg and no prosthesis, which meant traveling by foot was out of the question.
With their options severely limited, the pair’s outlook and hopes were fading quickly, but they soon found out that a few kind people still remained in the world, or at least in Williamsburg, University of the Cumberland’s Publication Coordinator Jamey Temple said in a press release.
“A student attending Cumberland College, now known as University of the Cumberlands, noticed the marooned couple. Having never met them previously, he offered help,” Temple noted. “The ambitious student contacted college officials. He, along with a few other college students and officials, helped the couple in every way possible by providing meals and lodging during the three day time span for which the couple’s vehicle was repaired.”
Throughout the years, Sarah Bornscheaer retold this story of gratitude and selflessness, noting how she was impressed with the mannerly, caring and hard working Appalachian students from Cumberland College. Her story always ended with how she would never forget the kind, thoughtful students who had come to her rescue at the little college in Williamsburg, Kentucky.
She didn’t bequest $1.9 million to University of the Cumberlands until decades later.
Larry Cockrum, a spokesperson for the University, said he believes that this was the first donation that was ever given to the university under these circumstances.
“I’m sure that a lot of people have been touched by the students they meet here on campus, but I doubt they have been stranded in an automobile like she was,” he added.
As per Bornscheaer’s wishes, the money will be used for Appalachian students, who attend the University of the Cumberlands, and are deserving of assistance, Cockrum said.
“I’m sure it’s an endowment, and the money off that endowment will be used for scholarships for students for perpetuity,” Cockrum said adding that the number of students helped each year by it will vary depending on the financial market.
University of the Cumberlands, located in Williamsburg, is a private liberal arts college in its 117th year of operation.
Cumberlands offers four undergraduate degrees in 37 major fields of study, 30 minors and nine pre-professional programs, as well as online and accelerated, non-traditional programs for adults.