The power to persevere: CSUSB alumni couple pay it forward with planned gifts to help students by...

Jim Stockman ('93) and Pat Kraemer ('85) tirelessly worked their way through school to complete their degrees at CSUSB. Now, they're giving back to help support the next generation of hard-working future Coyotes.

When Jim Stockman ('93) and Pat Kraemer ('85) got married in 1982, they had big dreams to complete their higher education together—and they worked together to make those dreams come true.

"Both of us were working almost full time the entire time we were at school," Stockman recalled, noting that the couple took turns—with Kraemer attending and graduating first, and Stockman after. "It was hard, but we were determined to make it happen."

Kraemer graduated in 1985 with her bachelor's degree in mathematics from the College of Natural Sciences, and Stockman earned his bachelor's degree in information management in 1993 from the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration.

They both went on to establish prosperous careers, Stockman in information management and small business consulting, and Kraemer in finance and asset management.

But they never forgot the work they put in—or the flexibility Cal State San Bernardino provided—to ensure their success would be possible.

"We were so poor when we started," said Kraemer, now vice president of Westmount Partners, an independent investment advisory firm in Los Angeles. "Cal State San Bernardino was there, we could afford it, and it had the classes and the schedule we needed. It was the right place at the right time."

Even when it wasn't.

When Stockman was entering his senior year, Kraemer's job moved the couple to Santa Monica. There were no closer information management degree programs for Stockman to pursue, so after working mornings, he commuted to CSUSB for afternoon and evening classes. He recalled making frequent stops at the Taco Bell on University Parkway before hitting the 215 freeway to head home.

"For $2.27, I could get dinner and eat on the drive," Stockman said. "It wasn't exciting, but it was real."

Today, that Taco Bell meal no longer breaks the bank for Stockman or Kraemer. Rather, they are in the fortunate position to be able to invest in the future.

"We want to help people like us get their degrees while maintaining some semblance of a life," said Stockman, who was a first—generation student. "Get a good education, maintain a family life, make a bunch of money, and then leave some to Cal State."

In June 2015, the couple did just that. They ensured their legacy will live on at Cal State San Bernardino by generously finalizing a planned (or deferred) gift in the form of a $500,000 bequest created through their estate plans to benefit the College of Natural Sciences.

In early 2024, Stockman and Kraemer were invited to tour CSUSB and witnessed firsthand the remarkable growth and investment in students that has blossomed since their days on campus. This led to conversations that ultimately resulted in an additional planned gift of $1 million.

Lifetime members of the Alumni Association, these gifts also ensure a place for Stockman and Kraemer in the John M. Pfau Legacy Society, established in 2023 as a way to recognize dedicated friends of the university who have included Cal State San Bernardino in their estate plans.

"I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for Cal State San Bernardino," said Kraemer, who added she did not have scholarship support throughout her studies. "It was the foundation for everything. I think it's the best education value for your dollar."

The couple's estate gifts will go toward student scholarships, with a focus on students pursuing majors in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), as well as business.

"We want whatever we have left to go to a good cause," said Kraemer, noting she and Stockman do not have children. "The idea of helping students really makes us happy. I feel like people who are going to Cal State San Bernardino are going to do great things with their lives, and if we can give them a boost and make their lives a little easier, that's really fulfilling."

And perhaps those same students will one day establish their own planned gift to benefit future Coyotes.

"Maybe they'll pay it forward like we are," Stockman said, adding even small gifts make a difference. "Everything helps."

But he added his primary advice to current and future students can be boiled down to one word.

"Persevere," he said. "Find a way to make it work. If you have to go to school part time, go to school part time. It'll take longer, but you'll get done. I took six years to get my degree, but I got it—and today we're leaving a significant endowment to Cal State San Bernardino because both of us persevered."