Focus on Philanthropy

February 13, 2015

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The Secular Society Scholars

Created to advance the interests of women and the arts, The Secular Society has noted Hollins’ success in empowering the next generation of women leaders and also its vibrant arts program. So when the opportunity to collaborate arose, it was decided to begin by providing scholarships for incoming Hollins women in each of the next three years beginning with the Class of 2019.

The Secular Society Scholars will be selected solely on the basis of their demonstrated creativity and academic promise. Each year the five newly named Scholars will have their tuition-and-fees paid for their entire four years at Hollins. Depending on need, some can also have their living expenses provided.

President Gray has appointed Associate Professor Julie Clark, as Mentor to The Secular Society Scholars. While each Scholar is at Hollins, the Mentor will monitor her progress and actively help her achieve her goals. The Mentor, by organizing communal activities for the Scholars, will encourage cross-disciplinary sororal exchange. After graduation the Mentor will maintain contact with each Scholar on her career path and, if asked, provide assistance using the resources of the Hollins family.

Former First Lady Laura Bush, pictured with Margaret Spellings, former U.S. Secretary of Education, spoke with the Hollins group at the Bush Presidential Center that met in Dallas for the annual 1842 Society weekend. More than 100 leadership donors attended the November events, which included cocktails hosted by Lyda Hill ’64 in the Lyda Hill Gems and Mineral Hall at the Perot Museum, a private tour of Jerry and Gene Jones’ art collection at AT&T Stadium, and dinner hosted by Barbara Hunt Crow ’76 at the private library of Harlan Crow. Photo by Grant Miller

Kenan Trust boosts leadership scholarship

Gift intended to inspire additional scholarships

The William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust has given $600,000 to the Wyndham Robertson Leadership Scholarship, to motivate donors to increase our overall scholarship endowment by an additional $1.2 million.

Named in honor of trustee emerita Wyndham Robertson ’58, the scholarship is one of the largest at Hollins. The trust’s officers have asked Hollins to use this gift to encourage the creation of additional endowed scholarships. Given that financial aid is the fastest-growing component of the university’s budget, increasing merit- and need-based scholarships will help ensure that talented students have access to a Hollins education.

Why create or support an endowed scholarship?

A named scholarship provides a lasting opportunity for students. Your legacy or that of a family member will live in perpetuity at Hollins. Your investment in the endowment is sound.

The endowment stands at an all-time-high market value of $180.6 million as of June 30, 2014, nearly 10 percent above the June 2013 value. Hollins’ endowment is the third largest among the institutions in the Virginia Foundation of Independent Colleges.
We have had balanced budgets for 10 years in a row.
Hollins operates with no debt.

How to create an endowed scholarship

A gift of $500,000 endows a competitive full-tuition scholarship.
A gift of $100,000 endows a named scholarship or graduate fellowship, providing approximately $5,000 per year to a deserving student or students.
Endowed scholarships can be unrestricted, need based, merit based, or tied to a specific academic program.
Any gift made to an existing endowed scholarship helps meet the Kenan Trust challenge.

To make a gift or to learn more, contact Hannah Alley, associate director of development, at (540) 362-6380 or alleyhl@hollins.edu.

A challenge to enhance student life and learning

Seeking funds for Moody and library renovations

From: Mary Morton Parsons Foundation of Richmond
To: Hollins University

If Hollins can raise $400,000 by May 2015, the foundation will award the university a $200,000 grant, which will fund the summer 2015 renovation of the Moody Center and relocation of the Center for Learning Excellence—two of the most visible and active student spaces on campus.

Moody Center: The coffee shop and bookshop will move from the lower level to the main level, closer to the dining hall and in higher traffic areas. Meeting spaces will be reconfigured, student government offices will move to the lower level, the Intercultural Center will be enhanced, and a new commuter student lounge will be created, all making Moody a central gathering and work location for all students and organizations
Wyndham Robertson Library: The Center for Learning Excellence (CLE) will move from East Building to the space in the library that once housed old federal documents (now put online). The new center (consisting of the Writing Center and the Quantitative Reasoning Center) will include tutoring areas and classroom space (such as for oral presentation training), tying together CLE’s mission of developing students’ critical thinking, writing, and quantitative reasoning skills with the library’s role in the academic mission of Hollins. Last year, 80 percent of students took advantage of the Writing Center’s services.

To make a gift to the Parsons challenge, contact Audrey Stone, vice president of institutional advancement, at stoneae@hollins.edu or (540) 362-6363, before May 15, 2015.

Thank you

We gratefully acknowledge our generous and loyal donors. Thank you for your gifts. The 2013-14 Annual Report on Giving is online at www.hollins.edu/giving.

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Winter 2015