Kansas City couple has donated $100,000 to a Northwest Missouri State University center that provides tutoring and organizes study groups.

Carl and Cheryl Hughes were both first-generation college students when they graduated from the Maryville school in the 1970s. Carl Hughes earned a degree in business finance, while Cheryl Hughes’ degree was in speech therapy.

The couple are natives of the northwest Missouri town of Lathrop. They also have established the Hughes Family Foundation, which supports educational, humanitarian and health care initiatives.

Their gift will help pay for furnishings, physical improvements and training of student staff at Northwest’s Talent Development Center. The center was created in 1986 and serves about one-third of the university’s students each year.