Tietjen: The Virginia Smith Trust — Keeping the promise nearly 50 years later

The focus of my career as an educator has always been to serve students, families and the community, whether as a teacher, school district superintendent or in my current role as Merced County Superintendent of Schools.

Of the many programs and opportunities I have seen for students, a truly unique opportunity is the Virginia Smith Trust, which awards grants and scholarships for students to pursue higher education.

Virginia Smith was a native Mercedian whose grandfather settled in Merced in the 1850s. He built a land legacy that spanned more than 15,000 acres across three Central California counties. Virginia never married or had children so when the time came, she made a decision to benefit the children of Merced County with her wealth. Virginia provided in her will that the remaining land in her control would be granted to the Merced County Office of Education in a trust for the children of Merced County to be used for college scholarships, thus the Virginia Smith Trust was born.

The VST gifted 7,100 acres of land to the Merced County Office of Education Board of Trustees to support needy and deserving students, which has benefitted more than 3,000 Merced students through nearly $6 million scholarships since 1975.

The VST and land associated with it was vital in the University of California regents selecting Merced as the home for the tenth University of California campus.

I’ve worked with our Board of Trustees and several other organizations to fulfill the wishes of Virginia Smith in providing scholarships for Merced students. In fact, this year the Virginia Smith Trust for the first time provided nearly $100,000 in grants to high school seniors, along with $590,000 in scholarships to 83 students, which is an increase of 50 students from the previous year.

While the grant and scholarship is currently only available to students who attend school in the city of Merced, we are working on expanding this for students across Merced County.

Projected income for the endowment could be as much as $1.7M by 2026 and up to $10M for Merced County students by the time the VST development project is complete in the late 2030s.

The VST planned development will provide housing for all income levels, with large lots for residents in the custom home market and smaller lots for homes that are more affordable. In fact, more than 10% of the housing in the development, (more than 400 homes) will be targeted at affordable housing markets.

The VST development has set aside property for schools, parks and public safety, like police and fire stations. The development will fund these amenities and will not raise costs for other parts of Merced.

This is all possible because of the unique nature of the VST development.

One of the key reasons we can move forward now is that Assemblymember Adam Gray carried legislation that allows the city of Merced to annex UC Merced. Once annexed, the City has the ability to annex neighboring properties adjacent to the university. The VST will then have access to city services and those properties will begin paying appropriate use fees and taxes, as we all do. Property taxes from the UC will begin accruing to the city of Merced after annexation.

The future is bright, but it does need action by locally elected officials. The VST’s Environmental Impact Report and plan will go before the Board of Supervisors in Spring of 2023 and it will be up to the Merced City Council to annex the VST property later in the spring after annexation of UC Merced.

Let’s all support the dream of scholarships for all deserving students. When the time comes, I will need your support to make this long held promise a reality by calling on elected officials and attending meetings. Let’s make those meetings a true celebration of Virginia’s visionary gift for Merced.

Steve Tietjen is Merced County Superintendent of Schools