Levine Foundation gifts $1M to Union County college to help rural students
The Leon Levine Foundation donated $1 million to Wingate University.
The grant will improve college access programs for rural eastern Union County and its neighboring communities, according to a university release Wednesday.
The funds will be disbursed over five years and will allow the university to create a support system for students from eighth grade through post-college employment, school officials said.
Wingate will target first generation and low-income students by using the grant to expand its UC Guarantee and Wayfind programs. It also plans to implement targeted retention programs for at-risk student, increase the number of experiential learning and networking opportunities and mentorship programs.
“We will be able to make college a reality for more students who might otherwise not get the chance to earn a degree that puts them on a path to earning a meaningful wage,” said Heather Miller, senior vice president and chief of staff at Wingate, in the press release.
The university will also use this donation to increase staffing and continue working with myFutureNC, a nonprofit.
School leaders believe the grant will assist them in helping the nonprofit reach its goal of having two million 25- to 44-year-old North Carolinians hold an industry-valued credential or post secondary degree by 2030.
Wingate University is a private university with two campuses in Wingate and Hendersonville. The university was founded in 1896. Back then it wasn’t college. Multiple Baptist associations in Union County, North Carolina and Chesterfield County, South Carolina, wanted to provide literacy education from first grade through high school, according to the school’s website. and Today, it enrolls more than 3,400 students.
The Leon Levine Foundation was established in 1980 with the mission of empowering under-served Carolinians and strengthening Jewish communities in the Carolinas.
With donations from the foundation, Wingate University has established the Levine College of Health Sciences in 2009 and the Leon Levine Foundation Endowed Scholarship in 2003.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect Wingate University started in 1896.
This story was originally published July 3, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
