Press Clippings

In January, Jerry and Kathy Short were vacationing in Hawaii when their cellphones displayed this message: Emergency Alert: BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. “We followed the masses into a hotel cafeteria, which was like a bunker. People really panicked. They were crying and calling their loved ones to say goodbye,” says Jerry Short. A second message came through 38 minutes later identifying the alert as a false alarm. The Shorts decided that day to make some decisions about their charitable giving.

A $1 million gift from Kathy G. Short and her husband Jerry to endow the director’s position of the University of Arizona’s (UA) World of Words (WOW), the largest collection of global literature for children and young adults in the nation, suggests that successful fundraising campaigns can live on in spirit well after the official end date.

The nation’s largest collection of children’s and teen global literature has received a $1 million endowment to support future teaching and scholarship.

A $1 million gift has been made to the University of Arizona to support Worlds of Words. The gift was made by the collection’s director, Kathy G. Short, and her husband, Jerry Short, who wanted to endow the director’s position in order to ensure that Short’s successors are leading scholars who can further advance the collection.