Belk Gift to Aid Recruiting

Officials at Davidson College say a multimillion-dollar gift will allow the school to compete with the likes of UNC and Duke University in recruiting top students from across the country.

Former Charlotte Mayor John Belk, a Davidson alumnus, recently gave $28 million to the school.

The money will fund the John Montgomery Belk Scholarship, which will pay all educational expenses as well as finance internship and international study grants for 10 students each year.

The donation will also contribute to Davidson's ongoing fund-raising campaign aimed at raising $250 million to offset the school's operating costs.

Meg Kimmel, Davidson's communications director, said the scholarship - which she compared to UNC's Morehead Scholar program - will allow university officials to inform a wider pool of potential applicants about the school. "This process will enhance the college's effectiveness in recruiting students nationwide," she said.

Kimmel said the scholarship will also allow Davidson to compete with schools like UNC and Duke for students. She said students who might prefer a small liberal arts college, but are restricted financially, often will attend large universities like UNC that offer these kinds of scholarships.

With the scholarship, Kimmel said top students who want to attend Davidson will no longer have to worry about financing their education.

But Richard Edwards, UNC interim provost, said the Davidson scholarship will not hurt UNC's enrollment.

"I think it's wonderful that Mr. Belk has given this donation to Davidson, but I don't think it will have any adverse effects on Carolina," he said.

Edwards said potential UNC students had several scholarship opportunities besides the Morehead Scholarship. He pointed to the new Robertson Scholarships, which will be offered to students considering UNC and Duke and will provide for a joint education at both schools.

He said the Robertson program is one of the reasons the Davidson scholarships will not negatively affect the quality of UNC students. "The best and the brightest students will be offered a great deal of choices anyway," he said.

Kimmel said the new scholarship will be a permanent establishment at Davidson and will be funded by endowments after the $28 million runs out.

Eleanor Payne, senior associate dean at Davidson, said the donation will be helpful in increasing the school's recruitment base. "We are now able to attract students from all over, whereas before we could not recruit as widely," she said.

Payne also said the scholarship will add to recruitment programs already instituted at the college.

"We have a good merit scholarship program, but we didn't have anything to attract the top (students)," she said. "This complements what we already have."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.