Nichols College in Dudley has received a $1-million donation for scholarships from the chairman of its board of trustees.
John Davis, a 1972 graduate, is the chairman and CEO of Ventry Industries of Springfield. He lives in Longmeadow.
Davis’s gift will help 25 Nichols students for whom a scholarship of $5,000 “will make the difference between dropping out and graduating,” he said in a statement accompanying the announcement of his donation.
The grant includes a challenge to other donors to establish endowed scholarships during the college’s Bicentennial Campaign, which ends in June.
For each endowed scholarship created with a commitment of $25,000 between now and June, an annual scholarship of $2,000 will be awarded to a student in the donor’s name. This will occur for a maximum of five years, or until the endowed scholarship fund reaches the threshold of $25,000 and can begin to sustain the scholarship from earned income, the college said.
Davis’s brother, Stephen Davis, a 1980 graduate, also gave $1 million within the past year to Nichols.
