{"id":6050,"date":"2015-05-14T16:48:56","date_gmt":"2015-05-14T20:48:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/?p=6050"},"modified":"2015-05-15T09:20:26","modified_gmt":"2015-05-15T13:20:26","slug":"focus-on-philanthropy-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hollins.edu\/magazine\/focus-on-philanthropy-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Focus on Philanthropy"},"content":{"rendered":"

HELPING WRITERS FIND THEIR WAY<\/h3>\n

New graduate fellowships honor alumna\u2019s family<\/h4>\n
\"Susan

Susan Gager and John Jackson<\/p><\/div>\n

Since its creation more than 50 years ago, the creative writing program has nurtured and encouraged some of the finest writers in the nation.<\/p>\n

To continue helping writers find their way at Hollins, Susan Gager Jackson \u201968 and John Jackson have endowed the Gager Family Fellowships through a $1 million gift from the Liana Family Foundation. The fellowships will provide tuition assistance and stipends for graduate students in the M.F.A. in creative writing program.<\/p>\n

The Jacksons actively encourage and support writers and writing careers through their philanthropic Liana Foundation. In 2008,\u00a0the Jacksons gave Hollins $5 million to found the Jackson Center for Creative Writing.<\/p>\n

Director of the center Thorpe Moeckel, associate professor of English, says of the new fellowships: \u201cIt\u2019s huge. It\u2019s a game changer. Students will have more time to write, instead of working to pay the bills.\u201d He said that the admitted students this spring are saying yes to Hollins immediately, whereas in the past many students would wait to compare offers from other schools to Hollins. \u201cThe fellowships will allow our students to take a break from the real world and just focus on their writing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Gager Family Fellowships honor Susan\u2019s family and their history of assisting writers. Susan is a poet in her own right, and has written Through a Gate of Trees: Poems<\/em>\u00a0and the chapbook\u00a0All the Light in Between<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"divider\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

ALL IN THE FAMILY<\/h3>\n

\u201cDeserving students ought to have an education<\/em>\u201d<\/h4>\n
\"Bill

Bill and Betsy Moore Johnston<\/p><\/div>\n

Trustee Bill Johnston and Betsy Moore Johnston \u201962 recognize that family emergencies can weigh heavily on a student, or even stop her education in its tracks. The death of a parent, a parent\u2019s illness or job loss, or another catastrophic event can severely strain a family\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the economic downturn, many parents lost their jobs and their children could not continue their education,\u201d Betsy says. \u201cWe want a scholarship that will enable a student to continue at Hollins.\u201d<\/p>\n

Together, the Johnstons have created the Johnston Family Scholarship at Hollins to meet that exact purpose. \u201cThis is part of our whole desire to see deserving students get their educations,\u201d Bill notes. The scholarship will provide tuition assistance to students who face a family emergency.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel it would be tragic for a student to have to stop her education just because funds have run out,\u201d Betsy explains. The scholarship fund is available to be awarded to any student facing a crisis.<\/p>\n

Both Johnstons have close ties with Betsy\u2019s alma mater. She has been a dedicated volunteer, and Bill has served multiple terms as a trustee.<\/p>\n

\"divider\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

MARGARET WISE BROWN PRIZE IN CHILDREN\u2019S LITERATURE<\/h3>\n

Following in the footsteps of Goodnight Moon<\/em><\/h4>\n
\"Brown\"

Brown<\/p><\/div>\n

Before there was an official creative writing program at Hollins, there was Margaret Wise Brown \u201932. She is one of our most recognized and widely read writers to this day, even though she died in 1952. Brown wrote dozens of children\u2019s classics, including The Runaway Bunny<\/em> and the quintessential bedtime story, Goodnight Moon<\/em>. Brown was one of the first authors to write specifically for children ages two to five, and she developed the concept of the durable board book.<\/p>\n

James Rockefeller, Brown\u2019s fianc\u00e9 at the time of her death, has given Hollins an endowed fund to create the Margaret Wise Brown Prize in Children\u2019s Literature. He established the award to link Brown\u2019s name permanently with her alma mater and to honor her significance to the field.<\/p>\n

To be presented annually beginning in 2016, the\u00a0Margaret Wise Brown Prize in Children\u2019s Literature\u00a0will recognize the author of the best text for a picture book published during the previous year. Winners will be given a $1,000 cash prize, an engraved bronze medal, and an invitation to accept the award and present a reading on campus during the summer session of Hollins\u2019 graduate program in children\u2019s literature.<\/p>\n

To learn more about the award, visit www.hollins.edu\/mwb<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"divider\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

CENTER FOR LEARNING EXCELLENCE<\/h3>\n

Renamed in memory of R. Lowell Wine<\/h4>\n
\"Wine\"

Wine<\/p><\/div>\n

A group of alumnae who majored in statistics have joined together to honor the memory of R. Lowell Wine, professor emeritus of statistics. Wine\u2019s son and daughter-in-law, J. David and Mary Ann, and the alumnae have provided the funding to name the new Center for Learning Excellence (CLE) in memory of Wine.<\/p>\n

Currently housed on the first floor of East, the CLE (consisting of the Writing Center and the Quantitative Reasoning Center) will move to the Wyndham Robertson Library. The new center will include a classroom and areas for tutoring, public speaking and oral presentation training, and a place for students to engage in Skype interviews with potential employers.<\/p>\n

Moving the CLE from a residence hall to the academic heart of campus will raise its visibility, while honoring Wine\u2019s tenure and commitment to decades of students. In addition to naming the CLE for Wine, the funds will help Hollins meet the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation challenge. The foundation has challenged Hollins to raise $400,000 for capital projects by May 2015 to receive a $200,000 grant.<\/p>\n

Wine established the statistics department at Hollins in 1957, at that time the only women\u2019s college in the nation with a separate statistics department. An adventurous soul, Wine traveled extensively, and his travelogue slideshows were popular events on campus. He taught at Hollins until his retirement in 1985 and retained close ties with the university until his death in 2014.<\/p>\n

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