In 1902 Miss Maude Powell, who had expressed to her family that she wanted to give $5,000 from her estate to the university to establish a loan fund for students, died intestate. Her mother, Sarah [Drake] Powell and her sister and brother-in-law, Lillian Powell Smith, and J. Allen Smith, carried out her wish. In 1903 the Maude Powell Students’ Aid fund, to be used for loans to students who needed financial help to complete their studies, began with $5,000.