HPU Receives $20 Million from Alumnus and Community Leader Doug Witcher
HIGH POINT, N.C., March 13, 2024 – At a ceremony today, High Point University announced that alumnus Doug Witcher, a prominent business owner and community leader, has contributed $20 million recently to support HPU.
The Board of Trustees voted to name the School of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences after him. It will be known as the Douglas S. Witcher School of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences.
Named HPU’s 2017 Alumnus of the Year, Witcher earned an education degree from what was then High Point College in 1977. He serves on HPU’s Board of Trustees in addition to his role as founder and CEO of Smart Choice, a Triad-based insurance network with more than 10,000 independent agencies and 100 carrier partners.
“High Point University alumni support their alma mater in such incredible ways, and Doug Witcher has always been willing to stand up and help carry on the mission of this university,” said Dr. Nido Qubein, HPU’s president. “He has been a phenomenal example of a graduate who has gone on to do amazing things with his life, and he continues to show his support for this university through his work on our Board of Trustees and his generous gifts over the years.”
Witcher has been a longtime HPU supporter. In 2020, he gave a $2 million gift to the university to create an endowed fund that will support ongoing maintenance of the Witcher Athletic Center, a 36,000-square-foot facility that opened in 2014. The athletic center houses HPU’s lacrosse and soccer teams, as well as state-of-the-art locker rooms and a 120-seat academic center.
Witcher also donated $2 million to HPU in 2013.
“My most recent gift to the university is, in part, honoring Luke 12:48, ‘To who much is given, of him much is expected.’ In other words, this university has given me so much, and I’ve always felt I need to be a good steward to this school,” Witcher said. “I’d like again to thank Dr. Qubein and everyone else who was involved in conveying this honor to me.”
Witcher shared how he overcame dyslexia thanks to his mother, teachers, tutors and others who cared about him. The challenges he faced molded him into a “tough-minded individual,” he said, adding that his determination to succeed grew even stronger as a student on HPU’s campus.
The School of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences is HPU’s third-largest academic school in terms of undergraduate enrollment with 738 students, behind only the Earl N. Phillips School of Business (1,605) and the Nido R. Qubein School of Communication (846).
The School of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences offers 12 majors, including criminal justice, English, history, psychology and political science. Psychology is the school’s most popular major with 240 students, followed by criminal justice at 192 students.
