MOUNT VERNON — Cornell College has raised $51.8 million in gifts and pledges toward a $62 million comprehensive campaign that will culminate in Cornell’s sesquicentennial celebration in 2003.
The campaign began in July 1996. Upon its completion, Cornell students will have gained a high-speed Internet connection in classrooms and all dorm rooms, along with new or improved facilities for the fine arts, athletics and housing. The fund-raising goals are $38 million for capital projects, $12 million for the endowment and $12 million for ongoing operations of the college, which received a boost with a record $1.51 million raised for the annual fund during the year that ended June 30. The annual fund finances general college expenses.
The capital projects involve renovations or conversions in five of Cornell’s 41 buildings listed on the National Historic Register.
“We’re a historic campus, but we need to be up-to-date to accommodate the educational programs that prepare students for the contemporary world and also look to the future,” President Les Garner said. Renovations to facilities for the arts, athletics and technology go beyond bricks and mortar improvements, he said.
“They enrich the cultural breadth of perspective and provide an experience that educates the whole person,” he said. “We’re gratified by the response from our constituents — the board of trustees, alumni and local and national foundations.”
Cornell’s recent and current capital projects are:
– Law Hall, built in 1925, reopened in August 2000 after a $6.5 million conversion into a campus technology center. Funding came from members of the Cornell board of trustees ($5.7 million); a portion of the estate (totaling $3.5 million) of 1927 alumna Edna Nelson Rathman; alumni and trustees Jim McWethy of Downers Grove, Ill., ($500,000) and Neil Eckles of Blue Earth, Minn., ($300,000).
– A $16 million fine arts project will expand and update Armstrong Hall, built in 1938, for the music and theater departments and convert Alumni Hall — the college’s first gymnasium, built in 1909 — for the art department. As of June 30, $14.4 million had been raised, with major gifts contributed by the Hall-Perrine Foundation of Cedar Rapids ($3 million matching grant); alumnus and trustee McWethy ($2 million matching grant); Richard P. Kimmel and Laurine Kimmel Charitable Foundation ($1.2 million); Henry Luce Foundation ($1 million); estate of 1932 alumnus Ronald Fleming and 1933 alumna Winifred Plumb Fleming ($1 million of a total estate gift of $2.1 million). Renovation began in March on Alumni Hall; completion is set for June 2002. Work on a theater addition to Armstrong began in June, with completion anticipated in August 2002. Other renovations to Armstrong will begin in May 2002 and should be completed by August 2003.
– Some of Cornell’s nine residence halls (except Bowman-Carter, which has received $2 million in renovations) will see renovations totaling $14 million. The first dorm, Merner, reopens this month after a yearlong, $3.6 million renovation, with half the funding contributed by alumnus Richard Small and his wife, honorary alumna Norma, of Tulsa, Okla.
– Cornell’s athletics facilities are undergoing a $1.2 million update that includes a new outdoor track (completed) and renovations to the weight training/physical fitness room (to be completed this month) and locker rooms (summer 2002) in the Richard and Norma Small Multi-Sports Center. Alumni Kendall Meyer and Kathleen Adams Meyer of Park Ridge, Ill., and Larry Dorr of Los Angeles are major contributors.
– In addition, the pedestrian mall that spans the campus will be enhanced with gathering spaces and landscaping during summer 2002 with a $1.5 million donation from honorary trustee Marie Carter of Bettendorf.
Among the gifts toward the $12 million endowment goal was a $3 million contribution from the estate of 1922 alumna Vera Phelps Shaffer to establish an endowed chair in the chemistry department, a chemistry equipment fund and scholarships.
Cornell enrolls approximately 1,000 students from more than 40 states and 12 foreign countries.