With the help of many generous alumni and other benefactors, Hampden-Sydney successfully completed the Carpenter Challenge, adding a total of $20 million in need-based scholarship aid to the endowment.
In September of 2017, Hampden-Sydney announced that the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation was awarding the College $4 million for the creation of a scholarship endowment to support need-based financial aid for academically qualified students. The Carpenter Foundation's grant would be paid in four annual $1 million installments that were contingent on the College raising $4 million in cash for each $1 million portion of the Carpenter funds.
With the help of many generous alumni and other benefactors, Hampden-Sydney succeeded in raising the necessary $16 million to unlock the Carpenter Foundation’s $4 million in 2021. By successfully completing the Carpenter Challenge, the College added a total of $20 million in need-based scholarship aid to the endowment.
Completing the Carpenter Challenge is an important first step in our journey toward realizing the ambitious goal of meeting the full financial need of every young man who wants to attend Hampden- Sydney.
President Larry Stimpert
“We want the many benefits of a Hampden-Sydney education to be available to any talented young man who wants to attend the College, regardless of his family’s financial circumstances,” said College President Larry Stimpert. “Completing the Carpenter Challenge is an important first step in our journey toward realizing the ambitious goal of meeting the full financial need of every young man who wants to attend Hampden- Sydney. Moreover, success at completing the Carpenter Foundation’s challenge grant gave the College confidence to pursue even more ambitious fundraising goals.”
Other important fundraising accomplishments include many new endowed scholarships, a $6 million gift to launch the Compass experiential learning initiative, and two endowed professorships. The generosity of many benefactors and alumni has also allowed the College to construct the Pannill Center for Rhetoric and Communication and the state-of-the-art Pauley Science Center and to renovate historic Venable Hall. Generous support combined with steady and careful stewardship have helped the College grow its endowment to $250 million.
As college tuitions rise across the country, a college education—especially at an exceptional institution like Hampden-Sydney—can be a far reaching dream for some. Thanks to the funds raised via the Carpenter Challenge, scholarship aid will ensure that many more talented young men who wish to attend will be afforded the opportunity to pursue their education at Hampden-Sydney.
Hampden-Sydney has a longstanding relationship with the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. Three residence halls at the College bear the name of E. Rhodes Carpenter, a 1929 graduate of Hampden-Sydney who founded the Carpenter Company and later established the Carpenter Foundation. The Foundation's support facilitated the construction of these residence halls, and a $1 million grant in 2012 helped create the Viar-Christ Center for the Arts in Brinkley Hall, a project that was completed in 2017. Grants from the Carpenter Foundation total over $8 million, making it one of the College’s most prolific donors.
