It is one thing to have alumni who are willing to provide a quote, offering verbal support for their alma mater. It is quite another thing when those alumni are able and willing to gift the college they went to with millions of dollars.

This generosity acts as a strong referral for the institution that receives such support, and with remarkable frequency, a school that fits perfectly in this scenario is Hampden-Sydney College (H-SC).

As was announced by the college May 9, it has received a $1.5 million gift from 1994 graduate Bartow Morgan Jr. to endow a faculty position and support scholarship aid. Morgan, who is a current parent and trustee, made this gift in honor of Elliott Professor of Economics and Business Kenneth N. Townsend.

This is the latest in an incredible recent string of gifts to H-SC.

Earlier this spring, the school announced a $2 million gift from alumnus William L. Pannill to support the next chapter of the college’s 40-year-old rhetoric program: an innovative and collaborative space known as the Center for Rhetoric and Communication.

In October 2017, H-SC made public the pledge of $4 million from John W. “Bill” Kirk III and his wife, Shireen, to support the endowment of the H-SC athletic program.

Just one month prior, Hampden-Sydney announced that the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation had made the previously unprecedented pledge of $4 million for the creation of a scholarship endowment to support need-based financial aid for academically qualified students.

In May 2017, the college unveiled the establishment of the Flemming Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, made possible by a $1 million gift from the Flemming Foundation and 1985 alumnus Todd Flemming of Orlando, Florida, a Hampden-Sydney trustee and chairman of Infrasafe.

And the list of referrals could go on.