February 23, 2023

Elms College receives largest single donation in its history

REGIONAL
Staff report

Donald and Michele D’Amour (iObserve photo/courtesy of Elms College)

CHICOPEE – College of Our Lady of the Elms has received a $1.5 million donation from Michele and Donald D’Amour, long-time contributors to Elms College and leading philanthropists in the region. This donation marks the largest single, one-time gift in the college’s 95-year history.

“Elms College plays an important role in our community, and we are proud to support a few of the college’s initiatives that are near and dear to our hearts,” said Michele and Donald D’Amour. 

Of the $1.5 million donation, $1 million will endow the Haiti Nursing Continuing Education Program, which will now be known as the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Haiti Nursing Continuing Education Program, in honor of Haiti’s patron saint. 

In 2019, a unique partnership was established between the Elms College School of Nursing and the Episcopal University of Haiti School of Nursing with the goal of improving the health of the Haitian people. That partnership, now the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Haiti Nursing Continuing Education Program, brings together nurse faculty from across Haiti and uses a “train-the-trainer” approach to instruct the faculty with leading-edge nursing skills. The instruction of the Haitian nurse faculty is led by nurse faculty from the Elms College School of Nursing. 

The remaining $500,000 will establish the D’Amour Center for Faculty Teaching Excellence (DCFTE) to foster implementation of the college’s core curriculum, currently under revision, in the Catholic liberal arts tradition. In addition, the DCFTE will incentivize faculty development and promote faculty initiatives that will integrate the revised curriculum in their teaching.

“We are immensely grateful for Michele and Donald’s magnificent gift that will benefit our domestic and global students,” said Harry E. Dumay, president of Elms College. “Guided by the mission and vision of the Sisters of St. Joseph, the D’Amours are dedicated to the college’s success by providing our faculty with the tools necessary to prepare every student to be a lifelong learner.”