CHARLOTTE — Seventeen college students who are Catholic parishioners in North Carolina have been awarded $3,000 scholarships from the George Pitman Endowment Fund.
Created with an estate gift of $1.2 million by the late George Warren Pitman, a businessman and philanthropist who once lived in Charlotte, the scholarships are available to applicants who live in either Mecklenburg County or the town of Dunn.
Pitman was a renowned designer and ran his design firm, George Pitman Inc., from his Charlotte home for more than 30 years until his death in 2007 at age 79. Pitman was a graduate of
Mount St. Mary’s College in Maryland and Bright’s School of Design in Chicago.
Through the George Warren Pitman Scholarship Fund, college-bound Catholics can apply for renewable awards of up to $3,000, depending on the type of college (two-year, four-year or vocational) they plan to attend.
Of the 17, seven are first-time recipients. Two will attend UNC-Chapel Hill, while others will attend Appalachian State University, Clemson University, Denison University, Trident Technical College and the University of South Carolina.
Of the 10 students who received renewal scholarships, four attend UNC-Chapel Hill, two attend North Carolina State University, two attend the University of Tennessee, and the others are students at the Catholic University of America and Washington and Lee University.
“Mr. Pitman’s transformative gift continues to benefit Catholic students to attend a college or a university of their choice,” said Jim Kelley, diocesan director of development. He added, “More and more people across the diocese are remembering the Church in their estate plans – gifts from thousands to millions – and we are thankful for their generosity.”
The Pitman Scholarship has given out $162,000 since its beginning in 2018. The diocesan foundation has distributed $16.4 million to the diocese and its parishes, schools and ministries since 1994.
Donors like Pitman who make a planned gift to the diocese or any of its parishes, schools, ministries or agencies become members of the Catholic Heritage Society, which currently has more than 1,700 members.
— Christina Lee Knauss