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Two small Maryland colleges have received transformational gifts from the Hodson Trust, to be used exclusively for undergraduate scholarships.
Hood College will receive a $54 million gift from the Trust, the college announced Monday. It is the largest single gift ever received by the 130-year-old liberal arts institution in Frederick and will increase its endowment by 42 percent.
Washington College, in Chesterton, also received the largest gift in its 240-year history from the Hodson Trust: $54.7 million for student aid. That will allow it to continue to guarantee a scholarship of at least $30,000 per year to any incoming student with a minimum 3.3 GPA who applies by Dec. 1.
The two gifts mark the dissolution of the Hodson Trust, which was established in 1920 by Colonel Clarence Hodson. He had personal connections to both institutions: he became interested in Hood after visiting the campus in the 1920s with his wife, Lillian Brown Hodson, who served on the college’s Board of Trustees from 1955 until her death in 1969. Over the years, the Hodson Trust has donated more than $150 million to Hood.
Since 1935, the Trust has also donated more than $150 million to Washington College. Colonel Hodson, his daughter and his granddaughter all served on the Washington College Board of Visitors and Governors, and many buildings on campus bear the Hodson name.
The Hodson Trust was terminated in November 2022.
