Maroon runs deep in the veins of these three ladies, and well it should. Mable F. Phillips ’34, Frances Hill “Weeze” Cooper Daniel ’38, and Barbara Seidel Swagerty ’56 each were exposed to McMurry at a young age. This exposure impacted their decision to attend McMurry. The great experiences they had at McMurry prompted them to give back to their alma mater later in life.

Mable Phillips first heard about ‘college’ when she was in the first grade. With five children in the family, the Phillips family decided to move to Abilene, Texas, in the hopes that with three colleges and five children, they would get some kind of deal. The day Mable graduated from Abilene High School in 1930, she marched to McMurry, along with 25 other AHS graduates, and signed up for classes . Proud as a peacock, she then marched home and told her parents what she had done. When they asked how she was going to pay for it she answered, “They didn’t say a word about any money being involved.”

In the summer of 1934, Weeze Daniel’s father, a Methodist minister in Dallas, died. Shortly after school started in the fall, McMurry’s then president, Dr. C.Q. Smith asked Weeze’s mother to become a matron of Hunt Hall. “As a senior in high school I inherited 67 brothers, as well as a life-long nickname.” She earned the nickname Weeze, short for weasel. She attended McMurry, and she married McMurry alumnus J. Neil Daniel. “As valuable as the Bachelor’s Degree was, the association of dedicated professors, learning work ethics, and being exposed to the arts and Wah Wahtaysee helped shape my life, hopefully for the better.”

Barbara Swagerty rode her bicycle every day to play tennis on the “awful McMurry Courts.” She vowed that one day – after she turned pro, of course – she was going to buy McMurry a new tennis court. When the time came for her to attend school, McMurry was still at the back of her mind. While she was sitting in church one Sunday, a man asked her which school she was planning to attend. In a short time the Academic Dean of McMurry, W.B. McDaniel, convinced Barbara that McMurry was where she needed to be.

These three ladies are inspirations to all for giving back what one has received. Mable learned giving from her family. Mable’s entire family has a history of giving. Her brother, Sam Phillips, gave a donation for the PhillipsFamilyActivityCenter. While attending McMurry, Mable and her siblings worked at various jobs around campus to pay for their tuition. Her grateful parents helped in any way they could. “There is no way to tell how much gas my father gave to McMurry. Profs and employees would come by the station and put their gas on McMurry’s tab – a bill I know never made its way to the business office.”

When Barbara was asked, “Why do you give?” she replied, “How better can you honor and memorialize someone you love than by opening a window of opportunity for someone else through education? More importantly, it is our responsibility to be stewards of someone else’s education.” Barbara established the W. Alan Swagerty Endowed Scholarship in honor of her late son, and influenced her father’s decision to establish the Herbert Arthur and Emma Bell Seidel Endowed Scholarship for Elementary Education, School of Music, and School of Physical Education. Barbara also fulfilled her promise and replaced those “awful McMurry tennis courts.” The new tennis courts were completed in 2005.

Weeze agrees with Barbara and Mable about the importance of giving. “There is no one more indebted to McMurry than I.”J. Neil and Weeze started the J. Neil and Frances Hill Cooper Daniel Endowed Scholarship in 2002. ” “Still today, McMurry is training students in the upper Three Rs – Respect, Responsibility, and Reverence. If the alumni can help do any part of this, we will accept the duty.” She appreciates McMurry’s reinforcement of stewardship by encouraging letters of appreciation from the scholarship recipients.

These three remarkable women give back to McMurry because they believe in the University and what it stands for. Each woman, in relating her experience with McMurry, used the words “loved, secured, guarded, enlightened, appreciated, accepted, and family.” Because of their experiences, they all believe other students deserve and need the opportunity to attend McMurry.

“Attending McMurry was the best decision I ever made,” Barbara said. Mable agreed and added, “Everybody needs a little McMurry.” Weeze summed it up, “Thank you, McMurry, All hail to thee!”