Collier Community Foundation received an early Christmas gift from Hodges University.
Hodges transferred nearly $10 million to the foundation for scholarships when it filed dissolution papers with the state at the end of October.
The university closed in August 2024, and because it was a nonprofit institution, it was required to distribute its remaining assets.
The $9.7 million gift is divided into two scholarship funds: $8.7 million for the Hodges University Scholarship Fund and $1 million for the Lavern Norris Gaynor Hodges University Fund.
“It’s a substantial gift,” said Eileen Connolly-Keesler, the foundation’s president and CEO. “It’s certainly the biggest scholarship fund that we hold now.”
The Hodges University Scholarship Fund will support students in Collier, Charlotte, Hendry, Lee and Glades counties, offering scholarships for technical, vocational, undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees or certificates. Scholarship funds will be paid directly to educational institutions, per the plan of distribution filed with the state.
“Throughout its history, Hodges University was committed to helping students achieve their dreams through education,” former school President Charlene Wendel said in a statement. “Hodges became widely recognized for serving adult learners, veterans and first-generation college students.”
Lavern “Lal” Norris Gaynor, a Naples philanthropist who championed children’s causes, died in 2021.
The Gaynor fund will have broader flexibility in how it is used, Connolly-Keesler said, including scholarships or other educational initiatives.
The former Hodges University campus in Collier County is shown before the private, nonprofit institution permanently closed in August 2024, citing declining enrollment and financial challenges. Hodges, founded in Naples in 1990 as International College and later renamed after philanthropists Earl and Thelma Hodges, ended classes in Naples in 2021 and consolidated operations in Fort Myers before shutting down.
Hodges University began in 1990 as International College. Philanthropists Earl and Thelma Hodges donated $12 million to the institution in 2007, prompting the school to change its name in their honor.
Hodges University and Collier Community Foundation have a long history of collaboration, Connolly-Keesler said.
Thelma Hodges and her grandnephew, Leslie King III, approached the foundation with the idea of transferring the university’s remaining assets, she said.
The foundation plans to award $100,000 in Hodges scholarships this year. Over time, it expects to distribute about 4% to 4.5% of the endowment annually — roughly $400,000 — in scholarships.
Last year, the foundation awarded about $3 million in scholarships across all its programs.
“The best thing about the Hodges scholarship fund is it’s in perpetuity, meaning it will live forever,” Connolly-Keesler said. “So, even though the school closed, this is the piece that came out of it that’s going to continue and is going to help people forever in this community and beyond, because it’s really more of a regional scholarship.”
Students interested in the Hodges University Scholarship Fund can visit www.swflscholarships.org.
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