SALISBURY, Md.- College sweethearts Bob Clarke and Glenda Chatham are helping their alma mater, Salisbury University, to the tune of $1.5 million.
On Tuesday, the couple's $1.5 million endowment to benefit the SU Honors College was announced. The college will now be named in their honor. The university says the couple has a planned gift for SU's entrepreneurship programs and has included annual support for the honors college.
“The Clarkes’ story is a testament to the ability of higher education to impact lives, sometimes in unpredictable ways,” said SU President Charles Wight. “Similarly, their generosity will impact the lives of our students in ways they and we are unable to predict."
Clarke and Chatham met at SU in 1968 when they were lined up alphabetically for registration during their freshman year. The two started talking in the line; four years later they were married.
The couple has also donated $300,000 to endow the Nina Dixon and Grover F. Chatham Scholarship to support first-generation students from Glenda’s alma mater, James M. Bennett High School. The couple has called Snow Hill home since 2012, and reconnected with SU upon their return.
“We’re very impressed with the changes and very impressed with the people at SU,” said Clarke. “We wanted to invest in people — the students — and we wanted to invest in something that would be there long after we’re gone.”
While another named building was a possibility — Robert G. Clarke Hall already stands at Vermont Technical College — Salisbury University says planning a gift that directly benefited SU’s academic programs was even more appealing.
“We value education so much, and, of course, SU stands for education,” said Chatham Clarke. “Education has been a part of our lives not only at SU, but throughout our professional careers, as well. We’ve been on college campuses forever. We love education and college life.”
The Clarkes both worked long careers in education. After graduating from SU, Glenda served as an English teacher and reading specialist at schools throughout the U.S. as Bob’s Air Force and higher education career continued. Bob has worked at Northampton Community College, president at Vermont Technical College, and then was chancellor of the Vermont State Colleges before retiring from that job in 2009.
“One of the things we believe is that it’s important to give back,” said Clarke. We want to have a lasting impact on others. What better way to do that than through education and through SU?”
The SU Honors College serves 500 students from all five of the school's academic units--massive growth since it began with just 20 students in 1980.
“Honors students have a unique opportunity to work with peers and professors across a variety of disciplines throughout their time at SU, participating in high-level classes and culminating with capstone projects that demonstrate their ability to continue working at those levels," explained the Honors College dean Dr. Andrew Martino. "We are honored that, going forward, that determination and self-motivation will take place under the Clarke name.”
Their contributions also are helping to support “We Are SU: The Campaign for Salisbury University,” the largest fundraising effort in campus history.
