Diversity Leaders\u2019 Initiative<\/a>, and strengthening economic and social change.<\/p>\n\u201cWe hope it will become the premier small institute for education and diversity policy in the country,\u201d says Jacki Martin, the organization\u2019s associate director. To date more than $2 million has been raised.<\/p>\n
Says institute director Don Gordon, professor of political science, \u201cDick Riley\u2019s focus on people-centered public policy, his vision for bringing everyone into the social and economic mainstream, and his attention to common sense and practical ways for making the state and country a better place are of great importance. With the endowment\u2019s help, the Riley Institute at Furman will sustain and build upon this remarkable legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of that legacy is the Diversity Leaders Initiative, which over the years has brought together 1,100 leaders from the corporate, public and nonprofit sectors of South Carolina. Participants have engaged in 120 service projects across the state, addressing such needs as housing, education and the environment. The graduates remain in touch through the One Carolina organization and often become some of the university\u2019s most avid advocates.<\/p>\n
The Riley Institute has also spearheaded a public-private education partnership, resulting in a $3 million grant in 2011 that has established two science-technology-engineering-mathematics high schools in South Carolina\u2019s impoverished I-95 corridor. They are part of a nationwide network that transforms schools into innovative learning environments through powerful teaching and an emphasis on technology and student empowerment. In so doing they help to create intellectual capital and new opportunities for students.<\/p>\n
Fundraising for the endowment kicked off with a $500,000 lead gift from David Trone \u201977 and his wife, June. Trone, who served on the Furman board with Riley, says, \u201cDick Riley is that rare man who has made tremendous achievements in policymaking and earned the affection and admiration of everyone his life has touched. He is one of Furman\u2019s most prominent alumni, and his work to change the lives of children and others in South Carolina and across the nation will long reflect positively on this institution.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an honor for Furman to continue his work through the Riley Institute. June and I wanted to set in motion the fundraising necessary to sustain that work \u2014 and his legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
To learn more, contact mike.gatchell@furman.edu<\/a>, (864) 294-3788. The author is Web communications coordinator at Furman.<\/em> \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Kate Hofler Dabbs \u00a0\u201cI am continually honored, humbled and proud of this remarkable organization for giving young people at Furman the opportunity to develop civic leadership and public service […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":2459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-centers-and-institutes","category-riley-institute"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}