Greensboro College, one of the state's older private institutions of higher education, has received the largest gift in its history. 

 

The Greensboro News and Record reports that Walter and Dennie Newton of Bahama will donate $6 million from their estate as part of the colleges $15 million fund raising campaign. The Newtons co-chair of “GC2020: Uniquely Focused,” campaign which has already raised $13 million. 

 

The money will be spent of four major areas: scholarships; faculty and staff salaries; academic programs as as capital improvements. 

 

The Newtons have been connected to Greensboro College for decades. His ties to the college date to the 1920s, when cousins of his mother’s attended here. His mother graduated from the college in 1943 and later served as vice chair of the Board of Trustees.

 

Walter has served on the college's board since 1995. He has chaired the board since 2011, a period during which the college has emerged successfully from a financial and related accrediting crisis that came to a head during the Great Recession.

 

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.