BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. (ABP) — A businesswoman's contribution of more than $1 million to Gardner-Webb University will allow students of the university's divinity school to study overseas.
University spokesman Noel Manning said the donation is one of the largest ever received by the divinity school and ranks in the top 25 for gifts given in the history of Gardner-Webb, which is affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
“I am proud to share that Ms. Joyce Earnhardt has left a legacy appropriate to her interest in Baptist education…,” said university president Frank Bonner in announcing the gift at the divinity school's fall convocation.
The endowment gift will be named for Earnhardt as well as William Arthur and Cora Honeycutt.
The endowed scholarship will fund two distinct programs. The first is a “mission immersion experience,” in which a divinity student travels abroad to live with a host family to study a different culture. The second is called “Bible travel and experience,” which will assist students to travel to Greece, Israel, and Turkey as they study the Old and New Testaments.
Earnhardt, a long-time member of First Baptist Church in Mooresville, N.C., lived in Mooresville for more than 70 years before her death in 2005. She began her career as a loan officer at First National Bank of Mooresville, which later became Bank of America.
According to a university press release, Earnhardt's love of world travel, education and Christianity prompted the gift.
“Ms. Earnhardt was a woman who knew the meaning of hard work and responsibility, and she lived her life sharing that wisdom with others,” said Tony Houston, a longtime friend of the Earnhardt family. “Since she was a leader of women, it is fitting that this gift will benefit a university with a commitment to preparing men, as well as women, for God's call.”
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