Nearly half a century after first pledging their support, Pat and Charlene Neal have completed a $500,000 gift to New College of Florida, an investment that fulfills a commitment made in 1977.
Pat Neal, a former state senator and homebuilder, and Charlene, who briefly served as a New College admissions counselor, pledged to contribute the amount in the late ’70s.
“I believed in New College’s promise in 1977. Today, I believe even more deeply in its future,” said Pat Neal, chairman of Neal Communities and a longstanding civic leader in the Sarasota region.
Sydney Gruters, executive director of the New College Foundation, called the Neals’ long-term dedication “a rare and powerful statement of belief in the role public education plays in shaping Florida’s future.”
New College President Richard Corcoran called the gift “transformative,” noting that it honors the past while accelerating the college’s next chapter. “The Neals’ legacy is deeply intertwined with the story of Sarasota and, now, with New College’s future as well.”