As Chowan University attracts a growing number of investors, through successful capital projects, increasing scholarship support and other popular development activities catered to investors’ individual interests, donor recognition levels for the university need to grow in stride. Now Chowan University is proud to announce a newly established million dollar donor club, The 1848 Society, named in honor of the historic institution’s founding year.

The 1848 Society will honor lifetime gift support of donations totaling more than one million dollars, and the group already has seven members on its esteemed roster. The Baptist State Convention, headquartered in Cary, NC, leads the list with substantial donor support throughout our long partnership. Chowan has capitalized upon this support by growing our own Chowan Christian Service Association as a way for investors to support ministerial students and mission experiences at home and abroad.

Foundations like the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation Inc. make the list with partnerships that began in the 1970’s. The foundation honors one of America’s first female business leaders, Lettie Pate Whitehead, who became Director of the Coca-Cola Company for almost twenty years beginning in 1934. The Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation, Inc. and the need-based scholarships they grant to institutions like Chowan University now help to ensure that Christian women today have her same chance to succeed.

Other foundations like the Camp-Younts Foundation, established in 1955 by Mrs. Willie Camp Younts and Charles Rolphi Younts, assist in funding scholarship endowments, new construction and other capital projects, as well as helping students to attend educationally-enriching experiences like the annual Alpha Chi National Convention where our students are able to compete intellectually on a national level.

With insightful planning for their legacies, estate gifts also make the list with trusts established to meet the donor’s wishes in perpetuity. Estate gifts like that of Ms. M. Elizabeth Harris from Seaboard, NC, ensure others carry on her love of travel and learning through experience by funding student, faculty and staff travel abroad opportunities since its fruition in 2005.

Estates like that of Ruth M. Thomas continue a long-standing heritage of philanthropy. An alumna from the Class of 1917, Ruth Thomas’s gift followed one of the largest donations at the time by her sister Mary P. Thomas, a Chowan alumna from 1902. The sisters’ mother was a graduate from the Class of 1876 and their grandfather Abraham Thomas was named to the Board of Trustees of the original Chowan Female Institute in 1854, shortly after its founding. Their father, Dr. R. P. Thomas served on the Board of Trustees a record 33 years, including 17 as chairman and has the honor of Thomas Dining Hall named in his memory. Their legacy is a family commitment spanning more than a century. With no living descendants, Chowan University is honored to carry on this family’s memory and their commitment to Christian higher education.

Your investment can make an impact at Chowan University, now and for generations to come. Giving is simple and can even be done online atwww.chowan.edu/makeagift.

With this increase in donor support, Chowan is proud to establish the new 1848 Society for lifetime gifts totaling more than one million dollars. Support like this helps students in our region grow through elevating our resources and the opportunities they encounter. Your donations to Chowan University are an investment in the future leaders of tomorrow.

To learn how you can make a difference in a student’s life, contact Vice President for Development John M. Tayloe at (252) 398-1233 ortayloj1@chowan.edu.