As confetti showers down around them, DePauw University leaders celebrate the announcement Wednesday of a $200 million gift to the Bold and Gold 2027 strategic plan. Speakers who shared insight into the impact of the gift — the largest in school history — include (from left) DePauw Student Government President Paige Burgess, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean Bridget Gurley, Board Chair Doug Smith, President Lori White, Vice President Dave Berque and Creative School Dean Marus Hayes. Courtesy photo/DEPAUW UNIVERSITY
Trumpeting the announcement as the largest gift in school history and one of the largest ever to an American university, on Wednesday DePauw University received a $200 million gift.
President Lori S. White announced that the gift will support the pillars of DePauw’s strategic plan, marking a sizable investment in the future of the university and liberal arts education.
Specifically, the university received $150 million from an anonymous donor and $50 million in supporting matches from other donors in support of the goals of DePauw’s strategic plan.
“We are humbled by these gifts and grateful for the confidence they demonstrate in our vision for DePauw,” White said. “Thanks to support at this scale, we can focus on ensuring that our core academic programs and offerings are extraordinary in every way. We know that our aspirations for DePauw — to be a new model for a liberal arts college for the 21st century — will require further philanthropic support and this gift — and those it will inspire — are essential to advancing the accomplishments of our incredible community of students, faculty, staff and alumni in the future.”
Before White and others got into some specifics of how the money will be allocated, she took a moment to draw the attention of the gathered crowd of students, alumni, faculty and staff to the sheer magnitude of the gift.
“This is DePauw’s largest gift and one of the largest gifts to an American university, especially one of DePauw’s size,” White said. “You may have heard of other large gifts to higher ed institutions — we are in some stellar company, demonstrating faith in the future of higher education and opportunities to come. We are humbled by these gifts and grateful for the confidence these gifts demonstrate in our collective vision for DePauw.”
Specifically, the gift will go toward DePauw’s Bold and Gold 2027 strategic plan. In the planning stages since late 2020 and announced in March 2022, Bold and Gold 2027 outlines a four-part vision of the future “marked by academic renewal, a rich and exemplary student experience, an unmistakable commitment to institutional equity and a commitment to financial and operational stewardship that ensures DePauw’s future as a flourishing university.”
To this end, DePauw Board of Trustees Chair Doug Smith, class of 1985, introduced the celebration by calling it “a transformative day in DePauw’s history.”
Part of the university’s ongoing transformation is the creation of the three-school model, which was partially implemented at the beginning of the current academic year with the creation of DePauw’s new School of Business and Leadership, in addition to DePauw’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
In the fall, these will be joined by the new Creative School, which will have a mission to “champion innovation and collaboration and be an inspiration for students of diverse talents to engage in the multidisciplinary exploration at the core of today’s technology, arts and media cultures.”
In total, $64 million of the funds raised will be dedicated to the Creative School.
“Talk about fortunate — clearly I joined this university at a fortuitous time,” Marcus Hayes, inaugural dean of the Creative School, joked. “Thank you to the donors for your generosity and your belief in our work.”
Hayes went on to elaborate on the vision he has and the university has for how the Creative School — which will replace DePauw’s 140-year-old School of Music — will serve students across the academic spectrum.
“These generous gifts ensure that the Creative School is propelled to success, driven by the passion of our students, faculty, staff and alumni to be a revolutionary concept in creative education,” Hayes said. “It will be an important place for everyone in the DePauw community to think, create and innovate. And of course, it will be an important place for makers of all types — artists, writers, musicians and actors — to hone their talents in new and exciting ways.
“As I said when I first joined DePauw, our students will be finding many interesting intersections between the disciplines housed in the Creative School and come to see how their studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences as well as the School of Business and Leadership are related and interdependent,” Hayes added. “We want students to engage in a wide range of opportunities to ignite multi-disciplinary collaboration, creativity, imagination and creative problem solving, especially as we enter the age of artificial intelligence, virtual reality and extended reality.”
While the School of Business and Leadership was not expressly part of Wednesday’s announcement, Vice President for Academic Affairs Dave Berque noted in his comments that the current funds build upon $40 million the university already receive in support of the business school, bringing the total pledged to Bold and Gold 2027 to $240 million.
“I’ve seen all kinds of incredible moments in my three-plus decades at DePauw, and this one tops them all,” Berque said. “The impact of these gifts will be seen and felt on campus in many ways and for generations of students, faculty and staff. In the future, every alumnus will have been changed by the impact of these gifts.”
Not to be forgotten in the announcement was the university’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which still lies at the core of a DePauw education.
“The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has a really strong tradition, engaging in innovative approaches and providing students with an outstanding liberal arts education,” Dean Bridget Gurley said. “Through our academic offerings, research and internship opportunities, study abroad and co-curricular programs, the college broadens and deepens every student’s understanding of the world around them.”
The funds will bolster initiatives across the institution and all four pillars of the strategic plan, supporting faculty, scholarships and financial aid, student and spiritual life and athletics. Three-quarters of the funds raised will support the university’s endowment.
“DePauw is a university that changes lives,” Smith said. “These generous gifts lay the foundation for a lasting legacy and will foster remarkable innovation and empower all members of the DePauw community for years to come. It is not just a financial investment, it is a profound commitment to the boundless potential of a DePauw education.”
Bringing the student experience into focus Student Government President Paige Burgess, who noted that 90 percent of DePauw Students receive scholarships or financial aid through the university.
“These gifts strengthen that support, moving the university toward the goal of ensuring that every talented student who wants to come to DePauw has the chance to do so,” Burgess said.
She also applauded the commitment to diversity and inclusion the gifts ensure.
“College campuses are one of the rare places left where people of diverse backgrounds and perspectives come together intentionally with open minds to wrestle with the issues facing a diverse world,” Burgess said.
The $150 million gift is the second at this scale that DePauw has received in its 187-year history. In 1999, DePauw received $128 million to support teaching and learning.
“DePauw has long had extraordinary support from donors – alumni and friends of the university who have given gifts large and small – who believe in its mission to produce leaders prepared for the careers and the challenges of the day and those not yet imagined,” White said. “We are honored that so many recognize the far-reaching, life-changing education DePauw offers and that they continue to invest in us.”
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