Belk Challenge for International Scholars Endowment

For the second time in the past eight months, Hollins has accepted a challenge from the John M. Belk Educational Endowment to raise $500,000 in order to receive a matching grant of the same amount. Hollins will receive the funds provided the university is successful in raising an equal amount in gifts and pledges by June 30, 2010. The grant and matching funds will support the Claudia Watkins Belk International Scholars Endowment, which offers deserving Hollins students the chance to study abroad for a semester or a year, participate in an international experience during the university's January Short Term, or engage in community service or career internship placements abroad.

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Theatre Renovation Thanks to McDonnell Family

Hollins is embarking on a comprehensive renovation of its theatre, thanks to a $3 million commitment from the James S. McDonnell Family Foundation. Hollins will receive $1 million annually from the foundation over the next three years, beginning this year.

Based in Lincoln, Massachusetts, the James S. McDonnell Family Foundation is named for the noted aviation pioneer and founder of McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, which later became McDonnell Douglas Corporation. The organization's mission is to support scientific, educational, and charitable causes locally, nationally, and internationally. McDonnell’s daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Hall McDonnell, is a member of Hollins' Class of 1962 and currently serves on the university's Board of Trustees. Her husband, James S. McDonnell III, is a member of the foundation's Board of Directors.

The following improvements are among those the gift will fund: Replacement of existing stage rigging with a new electric rigging system above the stage for the hanging of lights, scenery, and drapery; Upgrades to HVAC and electrical systems, including air conditioning for the entire building; New light coves flanking the stage; blackout shades; and updated lighting; New paint and carpeting for the theatre's interior; A new sprinkler system and rear fire stair; Increased accessibility, including the addition of an automatic door opener and making the existing lobby and Theatre Annex restrooms handicapped accessible; Flood control to address periodic flooding of the Theatre Annex basement.

A Texas Sized Challenge to Hollins Alumnae and Friends

Texas philanthropist and Hollins son and grandson Robert Priddy of Wichita Falls has issued a challenge to all Texas alumnae, graduate alumni, current and past parents, and friends to raise $100,000 in new gifts to the Hollins Fund by December 31, 2010.  If we are successful, Mr. Priddy will match that amount, dollar for dollar, up to $100,000.

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The Perfect Present for Polly: a Charitable Gift Annuity

Men casting about for the perfect gift for their wives would do well to consult Bob Garbee. Garbee landed on the perfect 50th reunion gift for his wife, Mary "Polly" Barksdale Garbee '59, when he called the Hollins development office and asked to speak to Diane Markert, director of planned giving, about a Charitable Gift Annuity (CGA).

He had no doubt about Polly's dedication to her alma mater. She had established a scholarship in honor of her father, Judge Alfred Dickinson Barksdale, who served on the Hollins Board of Trustees for more than thirty years. Polly was also the force behind two other scholarships recognizing favorite Hollins professors Stuart Degginger and Marguerite Prinet.

To the Garbees, the Charitable Gift Annuity had great appeal because it would provide Bob with income, benefit Hollins, and make Polly happy because he designated the gift for the Marguerite Prinet Abroad Scholarship. In this time of economic uncertainty, Bob's gift will provide him with a guaranteed lifetime income. Garbee also received a tax deduction and was able to spread capital gains taxes on appreciated stock over a period of five years. The annuity passes to Hollins upon Garbee's death. For information on the benefits of a Charitable Gift Annuity, contact Diane Markert at (540) 362-6515 or dmarkert@hollins.edu.

Sara Blakeney ’98 and Parents Create Fund for First-Year Students

Upon hearing about Hollins' new First-Year Experience, the first thing most alumnae do is wish such a program had been in place when they were students. Alumnae Board member Sara Dettmer Blakeney '98 turned her admiration of the program into a pledge she is splitting with her parents, Dale and Pam Dettmer, to create an endowment to help fund it.

The Dettmers, former Parents Council members, and their daughter each made a five-year pledge to create the Sara Dettmer Blakeney Fund for First-Year Experience. Income from the endowment, when fully funded, will help support the program's activities. The program was introduced during the 2007-2008 academic year to ensure that first-year students have an exceptional academic experience from the moment they first arrive on campus. A successful first year increases the likelihood that students will stay at Hollins until they graduate. In its first two years, the program has proved very successful and popular with students. 

The Little Fund That Grew: the Holmes-Kelley Scholarship

In 1972, Margaret Holmes Kelley, mother of recent graduate Charlotte Kelley Porterfield '68, made a $1,000 gift in memory of her father and Charlotte’s grandfather, Forrest Shepperson Holmes. Mrs. Kelley didn’t know at the time how she wanted the money used. She didn't decide for more than 25 years, but throughout that time she kept adding to the fund. By the time she signed an endowment agreement for the Forrest Shepperson Holmes Scholarship in 2000, it was worth $25,000.

Right after Christmas in 2008 Charlotte Porterfield, now a Hollins trustee, and her husband, Bittle W. Porterfield III, made a gift to fully endow her mother's scholarship and with Mrs. Kelley's blessing asked that it be renamed the Holmes-Kelley Endowed Scholarship Fund in honor of her mother and in memory of her grandfather and uncle, Forrest Shepperson Holmes, Jr.

The Holmes-Kelley Scholarship is an example of how an endowed fund can honor many generations of a family, start small, and build into a significant fund over time. As long as there is a Hollins, this family's endowment will provide scholarships for students who need financial assistance. Mrs. Kelley is also the benefactor of the Carl Williams Kelley Chemistry Endowment for Faculty Salaries, named for her late husband.

Marx Family Fund Supports Faculty Salaries

When Edgar Marx got ready to make a gift to The Hollins Campaign for Women Who Are Going Places, he recalled how impressed he and his wife, Margot, had been by the individual attention his daughter, Katharine Marx '94, received from faculty and others at Hollins. He directed that their gift be used to establish an endowment fund to help support compensation for the teaching faculty.

Marx said he was very satisfied with the quality of education his daughter received, especially noting her semester spent studying in London and her work with photography. The Marxes, who are consistent Hollins Fund donors at The 1842 Society level, also participated in the last Hollins campaign by naming the redesigned front entrance in honor of Katharine and the Class of 1994.

Anne Colgin '66 Bequest Funds Front Quad Tree Work

The towering trees on the Front Quadrangle constitute one of the iconic images of Hollins. Generations of Hollins women have played, studied, frolicked, graduated, and had their pictures taken beneath the lush oak canopy. One of those alumnae was Anne Moore Colgin '66, who passed away in September 2008, leaving a gift for Hollins in her will.

When Anne's husband, Robert Boston Colgin, heard about a project to preserve and maintain the trees on the Quad, he knew that is where he wanted to direct Anne's ultimate Hollins gift. Thanks to Anne and Robert's generosity, Hollins has been able to contract with a tree company to give the trees the attention needed for their long-term health. The work, which started in March 2009, includes trimming, cabling, and lightning protection as well as replacement as trees reach the end of their lives.

Another portion of the Colgin bequest will fund the repair and painting of the columns on the front of the Cocke Memorial Building facing the Front Quad. After the painting is completed, a plaque recognizing Anne Colgin will be placed at the foot of one of the trees near the Cocke Building. 

"1/4 Alumna" Rosmarie Scully '64 Gives Back to Hollins

Rosmarie Hopler Scully ’54 has referred to herself as "only one-fourth of an alumna" because she attended Hollins just one year as an exchange student from Austria, however, in the hearts and minds of her classmates and the institution, she has earned "full alumna" status through her dedication to Hollins' mission.

In appreciation for her own experience at Hollins, Scully has made a gift of $100,000 to endow the Rosmarie Hopler Scully Abroad Scholarship to provide financial assistance to international students wanting to study at Hollins or Hollins students wanting to pursue studies abroad.

Scully said she was grateful to "the many members of the Class of '54 who showed tremendous kindness throughout my year there...who extended their own and their families' hospitality to me which made it possible for me to see and experience many parts of the United States."