$13 million gift extends Levine Scholars Program

The prestigious Levine Scholars Program will continue to accommodate exceptional student-leaders from across the country through 2024 following a new gift commitment of nearly $13 million to UNC Charlotte from Leon and Sandra Levine through their foundation.

The extension of the merit scholarship program was formally announced today at a ceremony at the UNC Charlotte Student Union. Along with the Levines, Chancellor Philip L. Dubois; program administrators; current and former Levine Scholars and staff, faculty and friends of the University; participated in the event.

Starting in 2016, the program will have up to 20 new recipients annually, up from the current number of 15 students per year. By 2020, there will be 80 Levine Scholars enrolled at UNC Charlotte

Established in 2009 through a gift from the Leon Levine Foundation, the Levine Scholars Program recruits extraordinary high school students based on scholarship, ethical leadership and civic engagement. Recipients receive a four-year scholarship, which covers tuition, room and board, stipends for four summer experiences and a grant to implement a service project of the scholar’s design. In 2014, the total value of the four-year package is estimated at $105,000 per in-state student and $155,000 per out-of-state student.

To honor the donors, a new 425-bed residence hall to be prominently located near the University’s main entrance will be named Sandra and Leon Levine Hall. The building will house the administrative offices for the Levine Scholars Program and the University’s Honors College. Construction is scheduled to begin in spring 2015, with a projected completion date set for the summer of 2016.

Housing both freshmen and upper-class students, Levine Hall will include suite- and apartment-style room configurations. The building’s apartments are designated primarily for students in the Levine and Honors programs.

The Levine and Honors offices will include student work/study areas, faculty work stations and private one-on-one spaces, adjacent seminar spaces that can be combined for large functions, and a hotel space for visiting faculty or lecturers.

“We are proud to share Sandra’s and Leon’s vision of bringing brilliant students committed to community service to Charlotte. The Levines’ generosity, as expressed in the Levine Scholars Program, has had a clear and immediate impact on our campus and will pay, through the achievements of our graduates, important dividends to our city and region for years to come. This new commitment helps us to sustain and expand their legacy,” said UNC Charlotte Chancellor Philip L. Dubois.

“We now have seen the first class of Levine Scholars move through the UNC Charlotte curriculum through graduation, and others are following in their footsteps,” he said. “These students have done incredible things, both academically, on our campus, and out in the greater community.”

Leon Levine is the founder of Matthews, N.C.-based Family Dollar Stores Inc. He and his wife Sandra are involved in a number of civic and charitable causes through the Levine Foundation.

“We could not have envisioned the heights we have seen these fine young students in the Levine Scholars Program reach in the first five years,” Leon Levine said. “They have accomplished great academic achievements, which we fully expected to see. However, we have been captivated by their engagement with our community and the ideas they have brought forth in their service projects. It promises great things for the future, both at the University and in the region at large.”

When it was launched, the original donation was called the largest individual gift commitment in UNC Charlotte’s history. At the time, Dubois said “the Levine Scholars Program will prove to be transformational for UNC Charlotte.”

His prediction proved to be true.

Members of the Levine Scholars Program have used their grants to support their own service projects, which run the gamut from urban farming, artistic installations, child advocacy and others. The scholars attest to the fact that they were given opportunities to expand their educational horizons because of their participation in the Levine Scholars Program.

For example, recent graduate Jasmine Patterson used her Levine Scholar civic engagement grant to fund a handcycle for the Adaptive Sports and Adventure Program (ASAP). Powered by a rider’s arms, handcycles are specialized vehicles that can cost up to $6,500.

A track and field athlete, Patterson volunteered with the not-for-profit organization, which is supported by the Carolinas HealthCare System’s Carolinas Rehabilitation practice. ASAP provides opportunities for individuals with physical challenges to participate in a variety of sports and recreational pursuits, including handcycling, rugby, water and snow skiing, tennis, golf, power soccer and kayaking. Patterson is now pursuing a doctorate in audiology at UNC Chapel Hill.

Recent graduates and Levine Scholars Caitlin Vaverek and Celia Karp received awards through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

Vaverek obtained a Fulbright Teaching Assistant Fellowship to Nepal for the 2014-15 academic year. The Florida native’s goal is to pursue graduate studies in international development or public policy with a concentration in nonprofit management.

Karp received a Fulbright U.S. Student Academic Award for Research. It will fund her studies in Quito, Ecuador, where she will research “how health communication affects women’s perspectives on sexual and reproductive health, impacts their utilization of maternal health programs and contributes to Ecuador’s high maternal mortality rate.”