Greensboro College Announces Record $6 Million Gift (2/2/2017)
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Greensboro College today announced the commitment of a $6 million planned estate gift – the largest single gift in the college’s 178-year history – from Walter and Dennie Newton of Durham.
The Newtons, son and daughter-in-law of a 1943 alumna, Mary Hall Newton, will co-chair the college’s $15 million capital campaign, the public phase of which was launched today. More than $13 million already has been secured in the quiet phase of the campaign during the past two years.
Kevin Green, a Greensboro real-estate broker and 1978 graduate, made the announcement as his first official act since succeeding Walter Newton as chair of the college’s Board of Trustees Jan. 1. Newton had chaired the board since 2012.
“This incredible gift will ultimately add significantly to endowments already created by Walter and Dennie Newton to support scholarships, faculty salaries and professional development, and ongoing development for the Board of Trustees,” said Lawrence D. Czarda, Ph.D., Greensboro College’s president.
The college’s priorities for funding through the “GC2020: Uniquely Focused” campaign are:
- student financial assistance.
- faculty and staff compensation and professional development.
- academic programs, and
- capital improvements to existing buildings and the campus.
The $13 million secured thus far is a combination of current gifts, pledges paid over the next five years, and estate gifts planned for the future. In the last year, giving from alumni and friends has significantly increased.
Newton, who rotated off the Board of Trustees Dec. 31, had served on the board since 1995. Working closely with President Czarda, who had been hired in 2010, the two college leaders navigated the college through its financial recovery after the 2008 recession. The college has emerged in good standing with its accreditors, its bank and the U.S. Department of Education, and enrollment is growing.
Newton family ties to the college date to the 1920s, when some of Mary Hall Newton’s cousins attended then all-women Greensboro Female College, the oldest college for women in North Carolina and second-oldest in the South.
Walter Newton succeeded his father, George Newton, as president of Newton Instrument Co. in Butner. The college conferred the honorary doctor of business degree upon Newton during its 2016 Commencement exercises. Dennie Newton has been an active honorary member of the Alumni Association Board since 2013.
“Chairing ‘GC2020: Uniquely Focused’ is a labor of love for Dennie and me,” Newton said. “We have benefited from the experience my mother had at Greensboro College in ways we probably will never quite understand.”
Anyone interested in contributing to the capital campaign or setting up a planned gift may contact Anne Hurd ’81, vice president and chief advancement officer, at 336-272-7102, ext. 5743, or by emailing anne.hurd@greensboro.edu.
Greensboro College provides a liberal arts education grounded in the traditions of the United Methodist Church and fosters the intellectual, social, and, spiritual development of all students while supporting their individual needs.
Founded in 1838 and located in downtown Greensboro, the college enrolls about 1,000 students from 29 states and territories, the District of Columbia, and seven foreign countries in its undergraduate liberal-arts program and four master’s degree programs. In addition to rigorous academics and a well-supported Honors program, the school features an 18-sport NCAA Division III athletic program and dozens of service and recreational opportunities.
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