CCU founder Ken East with scholarship recipient Olivia Marlowe

Over the course of Coastal's history, more than 175 individuals and couples have endowed scholarships to benefit students in every field of study, from music and marketing to education and ornithology. Rarely, however, did the scholarship donors and scholarship recipients ever actually meet one another, except on paper.

That changed in 2005. The givers and the receivers now have a chance to connect face-to-face at an annual reception started three years ago by Coastal's Office of University Advancement.

This past April, 38 students attended the event at the Wall College of Business boardroom along with a number of donors, alumni, faculty and staff. Many of the students said that getting to know their benefactor made the scholarship more meaningful to them, and the donors were delighted to talk to the students and hear about their progress and their dreams.

Scholarship students at Coastal receive both annually-funded and endowed scholarship awards. Annual awards can be created for $500, while an endowed scholarship is $30,000.

The highlight of the evening was the appearance of scholarship donor J. Kenyon East of Columbia, the sole surviving original founder of Coastal Carolina University. East was director of instruction for Horry County Schools in the early 1950s, and he was a major player in getting CCU off the ground.

Olivia Marlowe, a student scholarship recipient and Wall Fellow, met East at the event and talked with him about Coastal's early days.

"Look at Coastal today," said Marlowe. "Aren't you proud of what you've done?"

"No," said East, directing his comment to all the students present. "I'm proud of what you've made of it."

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A fundraising gala honoring the legacy of longtime Coastal President Ronald R. Ingle and his wife Judy was held May 19 at the Myrtle Beach Marriott Resort at Grande Dunes. About 250 people attended the event, which raised more than $66,000 for the scholarship the Ingles created in 2005 to benefit the children and grandchildren of Coastal faculty and staff. This scholarship now has a total balance of nearly $100,000.

The official portrait of the Ingles was unveiled at the event, and tributes to the couple were given by S.C. Superintendent of Education Jim Rex, HGTC President Neyle Wilson, former Coastal board chairman Charlie Hodge and Brad Dean, president of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, among others.

The Ingles' portrait was painted by Joy Thomas of Louisville, Ky., an award-winning artist, Thomas' work has been featured in American Artist Magazine and the books The Best Portrait Painting and Portrait Highlights. The painting hangs in the University Welcome Center.

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Advancing the Dream, the follow-up fundraising campaign to the 50th Anniversary Initiatives, raised a total of $8,606,000. The two-year campaign began July 1, 2005, and concluded June 30, 2007, surpassing its $8 million goal. The largest major gift of the campaign was the $1.8 million commitment from the Adkins brothers of Cornelius, N.C., for the football field house.

The Office of University Advancement reports that during the past five years—the period including the 50th Anniversary Initiatives and Advancing the Dream campaigns—that a total of $21 million in gifts and pledges have been made. These gifts will serve the university in a wide variety of ways, from scholarships to construction.

Some interesting facts about giving during that period:

• The average gift was $1,251.70.
• 60 percent of the gifts originated in Horry County.
• 24 percent of the gifts originated from out of state.
• The average alumni gift was $540.
• 106 people gave $25,000.
• 39 people gave $102,000–$239,000.
• 34 people gave $250,000.
• 11 people gave $1 million or above.

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Scott Joyner

Scott Royce

Nicole Schlund

Scott Joyner recently joined the University Advancement staff as associate vice president for university advancement at Coastal Carolina University.

Joyner is responsible for management of the development program in the Advancement office. He oversees the annual fund program, the major gifts officers and the donor management process. He cultivates gifts to the university by major donors and works with other administrators in setting fundraising goals.

Joyner has more than 13 years of experience in fundraising at four universities and has worked on two comprehensive capital campaigns. He was previously director of development for major gifts at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He also served as director of development for athletics at Rice University in Houston and at Elon University.

Joyner earned a bachelor's degree from North Carolina State University and a master's degree from Georgia Southern University.

Scott A. Royce has joined the Advancement staff as a major gift officer. Royce earned a bachelor's degree in government from St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., in 1985 and a juris doctor degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1994. He also earned an International Master of Business Administration (IMBA) degree, a joint business degree from both the University of South Carolina and the Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien in Vienna, Austria, in 1998.

Royce's duties include generating funds for general and specific university needs. He worked with law firms in Columbia before joining the CCU staff.

Nicole Schlund has been named associate director of the Coastal Fund. As director of the fund, she manages the daily operations of securing annual gifts, which includes the phone-a-thon call center, direct mail initiatives, the faculty/staff campaign, the 1954 Society, the Parent Leadership Council and other fundraising and development campaigns.

Schlund was previously employed at Alfred University, the Medical University of South Carolina and North Carolina State University. She earned a bachelor's degree in finance from Coastal's Wall College of Business Administration.

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