by Kyle York 

Phyllis Pruden was at a reception near her home in Suffolk, Va., when a young U.S. Army soldier noticed her, crossed the room and gave her a bear hug.

The retired schoolteacher was surprised by the impromptu show of affection until the soldier explained that she had been his second grade teacher who recognized his talent for art and pushed him to use it. “You believed in me, and you encouraged me,” he said. “I’ve never forgotten, and I want to thank you.”

In Pruden’s 23-year career of teaching, she inspired her students to seize upon their talents and follow their dreams. Now retired, Pruden is continuing her legacy through philanthropy to 18 colleges, universities, medical centers, arts centers and churches across the southeast United States, including the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Pruden and her late husband, Peter, established the Peter Dewitt Pruden and Phyllis Harrill Stancill Pruden Scholarship Fund at the school to support undergraduate and graduate students from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.

The undergraduate scholarship is now the largest in the school. In April, Leah Ann Szarek, a rising senior from Monroe, N.C., in the news-editorial sequence, was awarded the scholarship at the fully endowed $10,000 level.

The graduate fellowship is the first endowed fellowship at the school, and the school will award it for the first time next year to fund a graduate student for the 2008-2009 academic year. In recognition of the Prudens’ landmark gifts, the school has renamed the graduate school administration offices the Peter Dewitt Pruden Jr. and Phyllis Harrill Stancill Pruden Graduate Administration Suite.

But the Prudens didn’t stop at Carolina. Students at the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, James Madison, William and Mary, Radford, Norfolk State, Longwood, St. Paul’s, Elon, Virginia Wesleyan and other institutions are getting the financial support they need from the Prudens’ generosity. A handful of cultural organizations, churches and medical centers also are benefiting from Pruden gifts.

“We’ve always believed in the power of education to change lives,” Pruden said. “We hope our gifts inspire deserving young people to attain a quality education and go on to serve their communities.”

Pruden, a 1945 UNC graduate, has given more than money to her causes. Five children from her marriage to Godfrey Stancill – a newspaper publisher in Suffolk who died in 1995 – also carry her legacy. Two daughters are journalists for North Carolina newspapers. Jane Stancill is a higher education reporter for The News & Observer, and Nancy Stancill is a government editor for The Charlotte Observer. Her two other daughters and one son – Diane Stancill Hall, Melinda Stancill Poe and Steve Stancill – have followed in her footsteps as educators.

When Peter, a former owner of Pruden Meat Packing Co., died in April 2005, Phyllis was entrusted with allocating his estate. “He was always such a giving person,” she said. “I know he’d be happy that we’re making a difference for so many young people, churches and medical institutions for such a long time to come.” ♦

Kyle York is the school’s assistant to the dean for communications.