Funding roundup

Community College of Baltimore County held a ceremony to dedicate and rename its interpreter preparation program and classroom lab in honor of donors A. Eugene and Bernice Hoeper. (Photo: CCBC)

Maryland’s Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) has dedicated and renamed its interpreter preparation program and classroom laboratory in honor of the late A. Eugene and Bernice Hoeper, who contributed more than $1 million in endowment funding to CCBC through the A. Eugene Hoeper Foundation. The endowment supports scholarships for CCBC’s American Sign Language (ASL) and interpreter preparation students.

Eugene Hoeper was born deaf, and Bernice Hoeper lost her hearing at age 18 due to spinal meningitis. The two dedicated their lives to causes related to the deaf community.

CCBC’s interpreter preparation will begin offering new degree options this fall, which include an associate of arts degree in ASL and deaf culture, and a revised curriculum for the associate of applied science and certificate in interpreter preparation.

Georgia

Kubota Manufacturing of America and Kubota Industrial Equipment have donated $1 million to the Lanier Technical College Foundation to support the college’s new Hall County Campus, which is scheduled to open in spring 2019.

“This donation demonstrates the profound interest that private companies have in the development of Georgia’s classroom-to-career pipeline,” Gov. Nathan Deal said in announcing the donation.

“Kubota Manufacturing of America and Lanier Technical College have enjoyed an outstanding business relationship for many years,” said Lanier Tech President Ray Perren. “Words cannot express the gratitude we have for this transformative gift. Kubota’s generosity will allow thousands of students to begin their careers at Lanier Tech and change the trajectory of their lives forever.”

Under Deal’s leadership and with the support of the general assembly, the state has invested $131.3 million for the new 95-acre campus, which will include six state-of-the-art buildings where students can study a variety of fields from accounting to welding. Additionally, the new campus will be designed to serve more than 5,000 students.

Kentucky

West Kentucky Community and Technical College (WKCTC) and the city of Paducah have received a $25,000 Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a proposed interactive art park adjacent to the college’s Paducah School of Art & Design. The park will have rotating art exhibits and features that engage the community year-round.

NEA’s Our Town program encourages local partnerships that integrate design and the arts into the fabric of the community and help drive economic revitalization. It requires a one-to-one match. Paducah Junior College Inc., WKCTC’s foundation, will match the NEA grant funds for a total of $50,000.

New Mexico

Mesalands Community College can provide more scholarships for students in its wind energy program thanks to a $25,000 grant from Xcel Energy. The college’s North American Wind Research and Training Center trains technicians to help meet the need for an estimated 170,000 new positions in the industry by 2030.

Virginia

J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College will use a $250,000 grant from the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation to provide need-based scholarships for students.The funding broadens access to the college’s culinary arts program as well as dozens of other occupational and academic programs.

“Richmond’s restaurant industry is on fire right now, so it’s the right time to invest in the programs and people that will make our community more vibrant and livable,” said Mark O. Webb, senior vice president of corporate affairs and chief legal officer at Dominion Energy.

West Virginia

Pierpont Community & Technical College has received $100,000 from FirstEnergy Foundation. It’s the second installment of a contribution supporting the college’s Power Systems Institute (PSI). This follows FirstEnergy’s investment of nearly $240,000 of in-kind contributions to support Pierpont programming in the past five years.

About the Author

Tabitha Whissemore
Tabitha Whissemore is a contributor to Community College Daily and managing editor of AACC's Community College Journal.
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