High Point University in North Carolina has announced a $12 million gift from alumna Elizabeth Miller Strickland in support of the creation and expansion of opportunities for women as well as scholarships for students with financial need.

Announced on the hundredth anniversary of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment guaranteeing a woman's right to vote, the largest endowment gift in the university's ninety-six-year history will establish the Elizabeth Miller Strickland Women's Leadership Fund and the Elizabeth Miller Strickland Endowed Scholarship Fund. The leadership fund will support initiatives aimed at providing inspiration, mentoring, and opportunities for young women, including seminars and programs focused on issues relevant to women in business, leadership, and entrepreneurship.

The scholarship fund will provide financial assistance for students of all genders, with a focus on returning students with demonstrated financial need and a record of success in their early years on campus. In recognition of the gift, the university will create an Elizabeth Miller Strickland Scholarship Plaza to celebrate and inspire current and future donors. 

Strickland, who was crowned Miss High Point College in 1952, said her late husband, Bob, who retired as chairman of the board of Lowe's in 1997 and died in 2018, "loved anything to do with education." 

"I deeply believe in High Point University and want students to realize their dream of attending a God, Family and Country university can come true," said Strickland. "My husband, Bob, and I have always believed that you don't go to college to simply learn how to make a living, but you also go to college to learn how to live. HPU's mentorship model and practice of equipping students with life skills allow that to happen."

(Photo credit: Elizabeth Miller Strickland)