University Benefits From a Legend Who Dropped Out.

He dropped out of the University of Texas at Austin in 1935 as a junior, because of what he called ''awful grades,'' to pursue a career in the news business, and what a career Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. had. But though he became a broadcasting legend, he never abandoned his Longhorn roots, as evident in his last will and testament now on file at Manhattan Surrogate's Court. The will bequeaths Mr. Cronkite's personal papers to the university, a process that started before his death on July 17 but will now end with the release of materials he had held onto at his office and homes in Manhattan and on Martha's Vineyard. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]