Founder's Day

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  2024 - Founders Day - Dr. Shirley Toney [Video]

  Gardner-Webb University

  Founders Day 2024 honored the names and legacies of persons and groups who played formative roles in the University’s development. Highlighting this year’s observance on Dec. 5, 2024 was the presentation of two Founders Medals to Dr. Shirley Putnam Toney, dean emerita and professor emerita of the School of Nursing, and the Royster family, extending from Dr. S.S. Royster to David W. Royster III.

  With a career spanning more than half a century, Dr. Toney has dedicated her life to advancing nursing education and healthcare in North Carolina. The Royster family have been passionate and tireless supporters of Gardner-Webb for decades, as evidenced by the legacy of Royster Hall (the first campus healthcare clinic and hospital) and service on the Board of Trustees.

  The celebration also featured a ceremony to place a historical marker at Bost Gymnasium. The marker honors the building named for Alonzo “Lon” C. Bost, founder of Bost’s Bread bakeries, who donated the funds for the gymnasium in memory of his daughter Jean Bost Gardner. Lon was an enterprising young man who got his start in the baking industry around 1903. By 1909, he bought a café in Shelby, where he baked cake, pies and bread and delivered his goods first by bicycle and then by horse and wagon. Beyond his business achievements, Lon was known for his civic contributions. He supported local education and community development, leaving a legacy of philanthropy.

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  2024 - Founders Day - Royster Family [Video]

  Gardner-Webb University

  Founders Day 2024 honored the names and legacies of persons and groups who played formative roles in the University’s development. Highlighting this year’s observance on Dec. 5, 2024 was the presentation of two Founders Medals to Dr. Shirley Putnam Toney, dean emerita and professor emerita of the School of Nursing, and the Royster family, extending from Dr. S.S. Royster to David W. Royster III.

  With a career spanning more than half a century, Dr. Toney has dedicated her life to advancing nursing education and healthcare in North Carolina. The Royster family have been passionate and tireless supporters of Gardner-Webb for decades, as evidenced by the legacy of Royster Hall (the first campus healthcare clinic and hospital) and service on the Board of Trustees.

  The celebration also featured a ceremony to place a historical marker at Bost Gymnasium. The marker honors the building named for Alonzo “Lon” C. Bost, founder of Bost’s Bread bakeries, who donated the funds for the gymnasium in memory of his daughter Jean Bost Gardner. Lon was an enterprising young man who got his start in the baking industry around 1903. By 1909, he bought a café in Shelby, where he baked cake, pies and bread and delivered his goods first by bicycle and then by horse and wagon. Beyond his business achievements, Lon was known for his civic contributions. He supported local education and community development, leaving a legacy of philanthropy.

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  2023 - Founder's Day - Washburn and Huggins Families [Video]

  Gardner-Webb University

  Founders Day 2023 honored the names and legacies of persons and groups who played formative roles in the University’s development. The posthumous presentation of this year’s Founders Medal to J.D. Huggins, the first principal of Boiling Springs High School.

  James Dwyer “J.D.” Huggins, who came to be known as Professor Huggins, served as the first principal of Boiling Springs High School from 1905 to 1928. His desire to guide students into thoughtful, conscientious service-leaders sparked student-led initiatives to establish the Athenian and Kalagathian literary and debate societies. Under his guidance, the institution remained strong through the 1920s, when it transitioned to a junior college.

  Founders Day 2023 also featured the placement of a historical marker at the Washburn House, built in 1941. The Washburn House was given by Seaton Washburn in memory of his wife and two daughters: Mintie Missouri “Sudie” Hamrick Washburn, Sarah Oeland Washburn and Mae Washburn McMurray. The Washburn House served as the first free-standing library on campus.