Northern Vermont University gets $3.5 million gift
LYNDON, Vt. (AP) —
Northern Vermont University has received a $3.5 million gift from an alumnus of Lyndon State College.
The school announced Monday that the gift from Mark Valade is the largest in the Vermont State College System's history.
Valade is the CEO of Carhartt, Inc., and the great-grandson of the founder of Carhartt, Hamilton Carhartt, the Caledonian Record reported. Lyndon State College merged with Johnson State College in 2018 to create Northern Vermont University.
The donation will help build the NVU Learning and Working Community, which is a partnership between the institution and local businesses and organizations to provide hands-on learning opportunities and career pathways for students, the university said.
NVU President Elaine Collins said in a statement that the school is grateful for "this transformative gift." The NVU Learning and Working Community “will help drive entrepreneurship, innovation and professional development, encouraging our students to stay in Vermont to pursue their dreams while also helping to meet our state’s workforce needs,” she said.
Valade said he hopes other alumni and friends will support the new, innovative direction in teaching that NVU has undertaken.
“NVU plays such an important role in the lives of its students and is vital to northern Vermont,” he said in a statement.