Those Nasty, Selfish Rich People!

And they're not even webbernet rich:

Levines donating $9.3 million for scholarship: "(By David Perlmutt, dperlmutt@charlotteobserver.com) Leon Levine, the Charlotte businessman and philanthropist whose family foundation has come to the rescue of many cash-strapped charities in recent months, is sharing more of his wealth - donating $9.3 million to UNC Charlotte.

Levine's contribution, the largest academic gift in UNCC's history, will be used to create a merit scholarship that school officials hope ultimately will achieve the same prestige as the Morehead-Cain at UNC Chapel Hill, Park at N.C. State and Benjamin N. Duke at Duke.

The new scholarship program will begin in fall 2010, UNCC Chancellor Philip Dubois said at a news conference today.

Plans call for 15 Levine Scholars to be named.

Levine founded Family Dollars Stores in 1959 and built it into one of the country's largest discount retail chains of more than 5,000 stores. His Leon Levine Family Foundation is one of the most active in the state.

In recent months, his and wife Sandra's generosity has been felt at nonprofits at a time when they are strapped for money and their services are needed the most.

Levine, who never graduated from college, has been generous to education and research before.

In 1991, he gave $10 million to Duke University to help build a $80 million research complex, now called the Leon Levine Science Research Center.

In 2002, the Levines gave the initial $5 million to Central Piedmont Community College for its $10 million endowment campaign, which awards 5,000 yearly scholarships to needy students. Last month, his foundation announced that it was advancing to CPCC $300,000 of a $2 million gift it was set to begin paying in 2010. The school will use the money to provide 150 classes and serve 3,000 students that it would otherwise have turned away because of budget cuts.

It's been a remarkable 12 months for UNCC.

Last September, Dubois recommended the school field a football team, though plans have been scaled back substantially after a fundraising campaign stumbled in the troubled economy.

In April, the university broke ground for a planned 12-story, $50.4 million Center City Building in uptown's First Ward. Construction began a month later on the cantilevered midrise at Ninth and Brevard streets that will houe the Belk College of Business MBA program - among other graduate and continuing education offerings.

The building will overlook a 4-acre park and launch the development of a 22-acre urban village by Levine Properties."

I count $26.3 million given away in this article alone. We better tax this gentleman more, since he must still have something left.

Well done, Mr. Levine.