30/05/2025
COLLEGE PROFESSOR WHO DIED GIVES $2.8 MILLION LIFE SAVINGS TO STUDENTS | A college professor in Florida showed how much she cared for her students up to her last breath when she left them most of her hefty life savings after she passed away.
Art history teacher Cris Hassold left some of her students a majority of her $2.8 million (P156 million) estate that she amassed in her life before she died in 2020 at the age of 89.
Hassold divided the amount among 36 people. Of this, 31 were her former students.
The report detailed that the amount she gave ranged from about $26,000 (P1.4 million) to $560,000 (P31 million) depending on "how close she was to the student" and how much she thought they needed the money.
They have since spent the money to address their financial woes, such as medical expenses and payments on homes.
One of the students, identified as Archer, shared that she was shocked when she found that Hassold had sent her a $100,000 (P5.5 million) check.
"I truly, honestly believed that I read it wrong. I remember following the number with my finger, making sure I understood how many zeros it was," she said.
On her experience with Hassold as her professor, she highlighted how it was "kind of like the most amazing moment I had ever had."
"She was just herself. It was a type of woman I had never met," Archer added.
Since Hassold never married or had children of her own, she was known to regard her students as her own kids and would invite them to dinners at local restaurants to ask them about their dreams and aspirations.
She also encouraged them to think about how they would work towards their goals by asking questions such as "What do you want to do and how do you get there? Who do you like to read? Where do they teach? They teach abroad? How do you save up the money to go?"
Her other former students described her as someone who gave them a "full-hearted acceptance," something that they didn't experience from their own families.
