Philanthropy

Making an Impact

Endowment to Support Study Abroad

By Emily Parker

Sandy Godwin, ʼ79, and Carolyn Hart have traveled all over the world together with the Meredith Travel Program. Those experiences, along with Hart’s own life-changing study abroad experience in Germany as a student at Vanderbilt, have led them to establish a $100,000 endowment for study abroad at Meredith College.

Old Windmills

Total Donors

Thank You

Raised as of June 4, 2021

A painting of a young Lettie Pate
By Emily Parker

The Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation has supported students in need at Meredith College for 47 years. The first grant received from the Foundation was $10,000 in 1974, and this year the College received $250,000. The growth of the grant shows the confidence that the Foundation has in the education Meredith is providing students. Through the years, the Foundation has given more than $3.6 million dollars to Meredith College.

Virtual Rendition of a Lobby in a new building
By Emily Parker

Since 2011, enrollment in Meredith’s undergraduate communication and exercise and sports science programs has increased by 29% and 52% respectively. That growth has led the College to build a new 13,000 square foot Communication and Exercise & Sports Science building currently under construction near Weatherspoon Gym and the Lowery Fitness Center. It will give students access to innovative spaces that allow for creativity, collaboration, new technologies, new equipment, and hands-on experiences in both majors.

Why was it important for you to give?

“There is no chance I will ever be able to give back to Meredith College what I received – education, experiences, relationships, memories. So each gift of a study abroad scholarship helps me pay forward the joy and gives me the chance to remember, relive, and renew those magical years in Wonderland. Poet Mary Oliver best captured the feeling of giving to Meredith – ‘It’s giving until the giving feels like receiving.” 

– Emily Necessary Fowler, '98

“I thoroughly enjoyed “meeting” via Zoom the recipient of the scholarship my mother established. My sister and I shared our student experiences with the student and were excited to hear her reasons for selecting Meredith, as well as her hopes and plans for her future. The opportunity for a Zoom conversation from three different states helped personalize the scholarship program and reaffirmed the importance of providing financial resources to enable a young woman to benefit from the type of education that Meredith provides.” 

– Mary Stuart Parker Alderman, '71

“There must be a ton of challenges these days at the College. Sounds like you are meeting them with confidence and creativity. We are proud of the Broyhill scholars and we love to hear about their successes. Please convey to them that their achievements are our reward for providing the scholarships. It gives Mr. Broyhill much satisfaction.”

– Sheila Triplett-Brady, served as the Executive Director of The Broyhill Family Foundation

The Meredith Fund

Total Annual Giving Dollars

donors

Gifts

College's Greatest Needs

“Since graduation I have moved all over the United States. While I do go “home” every five years for my reunions, I miss out on so many awesome opportunities only offered on campus. What I have experienced since the current pandemic is what I was craving all these years. I am so happy to be able to participate in events no matter how far away I live from Raleigh. Thank you for offering them; it means more than you know.”

Nelly Navarro-Britt, ’99

Alumnae and Donors Stay Connected

Throughout 2020 and 2021, alumnae and friends of Meredith College remained connected to one another through virtual events offered by the Office of Alumnae Relations and Institutional Advancement.