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GREENSBORO — Area pastors have pledged financial support to Bennett College for Women after an accrediting body placed it on financial probation.

The pastors flanked Bennett President Julianne Malveaux during a news conference Monday morning on campus, several of them bearing checks.

“We stand here today as spiritual leaders in the Greensboro community along with Bennett Belles and others to show our support and profound appreciation for Bennett’s legacy and present renaissance,” said the Rev. Gregory Headen, pastor of Genesis Baptist Church.

Donations the college received Monday included nearly $1,200 from Headen’s church and $1,000 from Faith Community Church, as well as similar amounts from other area congregations.

The pastors’ pledge to support Bennett coincides with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ visit to the Bennett campus this week. SACS officials are weighing whether Bennett’s probation should be lifted.

Malveaux said she expects the association will take Bennett off probation.

Bennett won’t learn the association’s decision until December, she said.

The association placed Bennett on a six-month financial probation in June.

SACS has placed Bennett on financial probation in the past. But Malveaux has said this latest probation stems from a major donor defaulting on a pledge, as well as the college having to pay a $1 million  prepayment penalty to the federal government on an $8 million  loan, which Bennett used to construct new campus buildings, including a Global Learning Center, honors dorm and day care center.

Contact Jonnelle Davis at 373-7080 or jonnelle.davis@news-record.com