The Virginia Western Community College Educational Foundation is honored to announce the receipt of a multigenerational planned gift by Mr. Edwin C. Hall, founder of the Roanoke-based real estate firm Hall Associates Inc.
Initial giving is valued at $1 million to support the Virginia Western Forward Permanent Endowment Fund: a vision of Dr. Charles W. Steger, Jr. plus $250,000 for the Virginia Western Rapids Response Student Emergency Fund. Generational giving will culminate in a further multimillion-dollar gift to the Virginia Western Forward endowment fund.
“There are few members of any Board of Directors that take a mission as much to heart as has Mr. Hall – and few whose families so wholeheartedly embrace that mission as well,” said Virginia Western Educational Foundation Board Chair William J. Farrell II. “On behalf of our membership, we are glad to honor the Hall family for their vision through legacy giving through our permanent endowment. We are inspired by this gift on behalf of the community it will serve, and hope the community shares that inspiration as well.”
Hall, 77, chose the endowment as a way to strengthen and sustain the financial future of the College. “Neither my (late) wife Glenna or I attended college, and we grew up without a lot of material goods,” he said. “We chose to support Virginia Western to make an impact on as many young people as possible, and many with similar backgrounds to ours.”
The Student Emergency Fund was selected after Hall saw the urgent and unexpected needs of so many students surface during the pandemic. “Aside from tuition, the needs of our students are not always on our radar,” Hall said. “But during COVID, we saw many struggle to pay their bills, buy food and access basic needs. Supporting this fundgives assistance to more students and helps them avoid a financial crisis.”
This legacy giving is in addition to Hall’s previous gifts of $1.1 million to establish and support Virginia Western’s Hall Associates Career Center; $100,000 for the Edwin C. Hall Endowed Chair for Management: Entrepreneurship; and the establishment of the Glenna H. Hall Memorial Endowed Scholarship for Women in Business established by Edwin C. Hall. Mr. Hall serves as Chair of the Educational Foundation’s Scholarship and Grants Committee and is a Board of Directors past-president.
“Ed is a longtime friend of Virginia Western,” said Dr. Robert H. Sandel, President of Virginia Western Community College. “His leadership and mentorship have paved the way for innovations such as the Hall Associates Career Center, Virginia Western’s Community College Access Program (CCAP), and excellence in entrepreneurship education. His efforts are seen now on campus every day, and his dedication and the family legacy will be seen in action with our students, always.”
In honor of the perpetual impact of the family’s philanthropic vision and support, Virginia Western announces the naming of the Hall Family Center for Business Sciences. Constructed in 1985 and known as the Business Science Building, it houses the Campus Commons, Whitman Theater and classrooms for Information Technology and Business, Technology & Trades.
The Educational Foundation looks forward to celebrating this naming when it is possible to gather together in person with our community.
