Shortly after Dr. Haywood L. Strickland announced his retirement from Wiley College — after 18 years at the helm — trustee Patsy Ponder and her husband, Gene, gave the small, historically Black college in Marshall, Texas an unrestricted gift of $2 million.
The Ponders, who owned Master WoodCraft Cabinetry in Marshall before selling the company earlier this year, gave the donation to Wiley in honor of Strickland.
“The Ponders have always given from their hearts, and their philanthropy has been most purposeful,” says Strickland. “Their generosity reflects the John Wesleyan ideals of Methodism — ‘do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can.’[”
Strickland, who has led Wiley since 2000, was humbled by the philanthropic gift.
“They’re great people who have been a part of Wiley’s growth for the last seven years,” says Strickland, adding that Patsy has been a trustee who was “always engaged, always open, and always asking tough questions, ensuring that we were on the right path.”
It was not the first time Strickland had secured a large gift for the college that came to international fame in 2007 with the release of the blockbuster movie “The Great Debaters” that featured actor Denzel Washington. The movie chronicled the school’s debate team and its coach, professor and poet Melvin Toldson, who went on to become national debate champions by defeating the debating team at University of Southern California (although Harvard University is depicted as the competitor in the movie).
Shortly after the movie came out, Washington met with Strickland and asked what he could do to help the institution, which was founded in 1878 and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.
