Mary Olive Woods Trust (MOW)

MOW Trust

The Mary Olive Woods Trust supports the study of religion at Western Illinois University. Mary Olive Woods was born in Littleton Township, Illinois, on April 23, 1871 and died in Macomb at the age of 85. Woods had stated in her will that she wished to give her money to the U.S. government should it become a theocracy; a 1959 court decision found Woods sound of mind but noted that a theocratic government was unlikely in the United States. Following a complicated twenty-nine year court case, a portion of her estate was given to Western Illinois University, which, following the subsequent instructions of the court, now uses it to “provide a curriculum of religious studies and to support speakers on religious topics.”

MOW Lecture

The Mary Olive Woods Trust provides many scholarships to Religious Studies minors as well as to other students in religious studies courses. View the MOW scholarships . It also supports the annual MOW lecture. Coordinated by the former Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies from 1987 to 2016, it featured lecturers from the disciplines of Philosophy and Religious Studies in alternating years. That pattern has continued, now under the auspices of the Department of Race, Religion, Gender, and Multidisciplinary Studies and the Department of Mathematics and Philosophy.

The MOW Trust has supported an eclectic and impressive group of MOW lecturers since 1987. Past MOW lecturers have included Ninian Smart, Martin E. Marty, Wendy Doniger, Martha Nussbaum, Alvin Plantinga, Ann Taves, J. Kameron Carter, and Michael Rea--among many others. Every Fall a campus-wide lecture is given followed the next morning by a smaller discussion and question/answer session open to interested students and faculty.

If you would like to give to the MOW Trust, please contact the WIU Foundation and Development Office.