Posey Global Leadership Initiative
A $2.062 million gift to Alma College will provide new opportunities for students to participate in international internship, research and leadership experiences.
The gift by Alma College alumni Lee and Sally Posey will fund the Posey Global Leadership Initiative, which is designed “to cultivate the next generation of global leaders” by promoting international experiences anywhere in the world and supporting existing College programs that seek to broaden student understanding of global issues.
Specifically, the Posey Global Leadership Initiative will
annually fund approximately 15 Posey Global Leadership Fellows. The fellowships will be awarded to Alma College students to support international study through non-profit internships, independent research projects, seminars and conferences, or work related to global issues.
provide supplemental support annually for Alma’s Model United Nations program, which has served as a foundation for helping develop an appreciation for global issues. Model UN replicates the real United Nations in a competitive manner, with teams of college students debating topics relevant to issues facing the world community.
“We are deeply appreciative of the Poseys’ generous gift for the Posey Global Leadership Initiative,” said Alma College President Saundra Tracy. “The opportunities this gift affords our students will prepare them well to meet the leadership needs of our rapidly changing global environment. I have no doubt that the impact of this gift will far exceed what we can even imagine through the leaders it helps develop.”
Lee and Sally Posey, residents of Dallas, Texas, are 1956 graduates of Alma College, where they first met as freshmen. Lee Posey, a graduate of Cass Technical High School in Detroit, is a past member of the College’s Board of Trustees and was awarded an honorary doctoral degree from the College in 2004. Sally Souders Posey, originally from Dearborn, moved to Alma in her senior year in high school.
The Poseys are frequent donors to their alma mater, having sponsored more than 90 Alma College students over the past 50 years.
“Lee and Sally Posey are individuals who genuinely care about Alma College and its students,” said Provost Michael Selmon. “This very generous gift continues a long pattern of providing opportunities for students to learn experientially and gain a greater understanding of their responsibility and obligation toward others.”
The gift established a $2 million endowment to support the Posey Global Leadership Initiative. It also provides $62,000 to fund the initial launch of the initiative in 2006.
Lee and Sally Souders Posey '56 pause in front of the Hood Building on campus last fall to admire a bench Lee bought to surprise Sally. He donated funds for purchase and installation of the hardwood bench at the place he first met Sally on the way to biology class. The plaque on the bench reads "In September 1952, Lee Posey '56 was wowed by Sally Souders '56 on this very location. She became the love of his life and still is."
Students will be selected as Posey Global Leadership Fellows based on the merits of their proposals, academic record, prior experiential opportunities, leadership interest and experience, and financial need. Student proposals will be judged on the extent to which the proposed activity would broaden understanding of a specific global issue or organization, provide hands-on opportunities to apply prior knowledge, and promote the development of leadership skills in a global context.
A longtime successful businessman, Mr. Posey is founder and Chairman Emeritus of Dallas-based Palm Harbor Homes, which is a vertically integrated builder of manufactured and modular housing that markets in 32 states. In addition to his business activities in Texas, the couple has started a foundation in Dallas to support at least one public school in every major Texas city serving minority girls focused on wellness, college preparatory work and leadership.
— Mike Silverthorn
