Couple makes major gift to HPU

Nov. 9--HIGH POINT -- High Point University recently received a $1 million gift to support students in the Stout School of Education from two alumni and longtime educators.

Jim and Liz Surratt of Austin, Texas, established the Surratt Scholarship to help support a special education major from each academic class who intends to pursue a career path working with children who have autism or similar communication disabilities.

As former educators who have also raised a child with autism, the Surratts say they are passionate about the need for intervention in the lives of families who have a child with severe autism.

"We felt a scholarship could not only be financially helpful, but could offer personal affirmation for a student choosing this work," Jim Surratt said.

HPU President Nido Qubein thanked the couple for their generosity.

"Jim and Liz have an incredible vision to help prepare our education majors to teach the young minds of our future inside and outside of the classroom," he said.

In addition to the scholarship, the Dr. James E. Surratt Outstanding School of Education Doctoral Student Award will be presented annually to honor a doctoral student from HPU's Stout School of Education who displays exceptional leadership skills.

Jim and Liz Surratt met while they were students at what was then High Point College. Jim Surratt graduated from the college in 1965, and Liz Surratt transferred to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she earned her degree.

Jim Surratt began his career as a classroom teacher in High Point. From there, his educational leadership extended over the next 40 years.

During this time, he established three educational foundations and was a leader in implementing technology in the classroom. He served as superintendent of schools in Plano, Texas, where he led the development of the first instructional software to be sold at the national level. He was honored by the American Association of School Administrators for that work.

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