SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (WWLP) - A $6 million gift was given to Mount Holyoke College by an anonymous donor. The college announced that the gift is the largest from a living donor in history. The money will help support two new faculty chairs named for Mount Holyoke alums in the arts, the Debra Martin Chase ’77 Chair in Film Media Theater and the Suzan-Lori Parks ’85 Chair in Creative Writing.  MassDOT warning drivers ahead of holiday traffic In a statement from Mount Holyoke College, Debra Martin Chase is the first Black female producer to sign a deal at a major studio and the first Black woman to produce a film that grossed over $100 million. “With this gift, Mount Holyoke College will continue to shape the future of bold and boundless leaders in the arts and humanities,” said President Danielle Holley. “I am so proud of these alums; they continue to break through barriers and make change for all.”  “Just as Debra Martin Chase and Suzan-Lori Parks were inspired by their Mount Holyoke predecessors such as Wendy Wasserstein ’71, the first female playwright to win the Pulitzer Prize on her own, they in turn will inspire and nurture generations of artists and scholars to come.”  Mount Holyoke College is located in South Hadley and has 2,200 students and 40,000 alums in more than 146 countries. Local News Headlines Great Barrington brush fire burns estimated 1,100 acres West Springfield man sentenced in child rape case Adams deadly pedestrian crash victim identified Ware Police searching for Quabbin Reservoir, playground vandalism suspect WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.