Cooke's Daughter Offered Admission, Aid

George Washington University has offered admission and financial aid to the daughter of the late Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke, who has said she is mired in debt and was kicked out of college in Texas because she is unable to pay tuition.

Last week, Jacqueline Cooke, 19, filed a $275 million lawsuit against the executors of and others connected with her father's estate, alleging she was defrauded.

Although the youngest Cooke was left a $5 million lifetime trust when her father died in 1997, her attorney, Benjamin Dick, said the annual payouts she has received since she was 9 -- which so far amount to more than $200,000 -- have not been enough to cover her expenses.

Cooke enrolled last fall at Southern Methodist University in Dallas but was not permitted to continue because she owes $23,000 in back tuition, Dick said.

This week, Gerald B. Kauvar, special assistant to George Washington President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, contacted Cooke's attorney to offer her admission -- provided she is academically qualified -- as well as financial aid.

"If she is qualified, we'll put her through with a financial aid package to get her through this difficult time," Kauvar said. "She can pay us back when she's able."

Kauvar said about 60 percent of the school's 10,000 undergraduates receive financial aid to help pay annual tuition and fees of $37,790.

Kauvar said that, to his knowledge, the university's only connection to Cooke is that some of the school's students have received fellowships from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, which was founded after his death to fund scholarships for needy students.

"The kid's in trouble," Kauvar said. "She wants to continue to go to school. If she's interested, we'd like to help her out."

Jacqueline Cooke's mother, Suzanne Martin Cooke, said the offer was "very kind" but that she was waiting to hear whether a deal could be made to get her daughter back into SMU. To that end, Dick said he is in discussions with SMU administrators to see whether they can work out a payment plan through private financing or student loans.

"It's great that people are extending a hand to Jacqueline at this time," said Suzanne Cooke, who married Jack Kent Cooke in 1987. They separated within weeks. She received nothing in his will.

"It's been a very difficult time for her, and all she wants to do is go back to school," Suzanne Cooke said. "She's not in great spirits due to this, as you can imagine."