McPherson College in Kansas Receives Anonymous Charitable Gift of One Billion Dollars
“I am incredibly grateful to our anonymous donor for giving us an unprecedented opportunity — and responsibility — to build and implement our strategic vision of becoming a destination learning community”
McPherson College in McPherson, Kansas, is one small school that is not going to have to worry about the higher ed bubble. They recently received a massive charitable gift of a billion dollars.
That kind of cash goes a long way for a school with less than a thousand undergrads.
American School & University News reports:
Anonymous donor pledges $1 billion to liberal arts college in Kansas
McPherson College in McPherson, Kan., says an anonymous donor has pledged a contribution of $1 billion to the school’s endowment.
The college says that the gift will raise the value of its endowment to $1,592,000,000, which the school says will be the largest endowment of any small liberal arts college in the United States.
The donor initially promised to give $500 million to McPherson if it was successful in receiving at least $250 million in pledges. After the college met that goal, the donor decided to commit an additional $500 million.
“Today is historic, not just for McPherson College, but for all small liberal arts colleges in America,” said McPherson College President Michael Schneider. “I am incredibly grateful to our anonymous donor for giving us an unprecedented opportunity—and responsibility—to build and implement our strategic vision of becoming a destination learning community.”
The donor agreement provides the flexibility for the anonymous donor to pay out over time or it is all paid in full upon the donor’s death, which is the latest time at which McPherson College would have access to the anonymous donor’s $1 billion.
The Kansas Reflector has more:
“Now, the work begins to build a bridge to our future endowment,” said Michael Schneider, the college’s president. “We need to carefully plan how the income from the endowment is deployed to reimagine and construct the campus of the future, build a much-needed rural health pipeline in Kansas, create a center for the future of automotive engineering and work to make college more affordable for all our students.”
“I am incredibly grateful to our anonymous donor for giving us an unprecedented opportunity — and responsibility — to build and implement our strategic vision of becoming a destination learning community,” he said.
Schneider affirmed the initial $500 million double-match had been secured during a meeting with about 200 faculty, staff and others. News of the second $500 million gift from the unnamed donor also was announced Friday in McPherson.
On an interesting side note, McPherson College is the only four-year college that offers a Bachelor of Science degree in automotive restoration.
Famous for its four-year degree in automotive restoration, McPherson College now has the largest endowment of any small liberal-arts college in the U.S.
Read more: https://t.co/2KXZ6oVqCR
— Hagerty (@Hagerty) July 26, 2023
Check out this video:
Someone certainly likes what this school is doing, that’s for sure.
Featured image via YouTube.
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
How much is Jay Leno worth?
He was my second thought. First thought was Saudi-based.
I just looked him up….net worth of $400m.
My first thought was Mike Rowe, but I don’t believe he’s in that league.
Just think how many diversity, equity, and intersectional studies staff and administration that will pay for!!!
/sarcasm
Good on them and the donor. Hopefully they use the money well and responsibly.
It will not work. Money attracts administrators and it will go left.
In rural Kansas?
The technical name is “Administrative Encirclement.” Every department will be asked to submit their need for pencils for the next year and plans for the future, for approval.
If given the opportunity to implement their totalitarian ideology then the location won’t matter, just the power over others.
Plus whoever gets selected to take the bullet will hate it all the more because of the location.
The auto shop restoration department should broaden its scope to artisanal restoration. Not everyone can afford a rusted out bug eye Austin Martin.
Restore great-great grandma’s hope chest quilt. Or the hope chest. Grandad’s pocket watch. Folk painted furniture.
The problem is this; how to keep art department garbage-artist clique from co-opting the occupational school aspect of the department?
Because they will.
They haven’t yet.
Those kids interviewed don’t sound as if it would be accepted too well. They appreciate and respect the art of restoration too much.
I stand corrected.
The instructors reminded me of my high school shop teachers. My auto shop teacher was fantastic. My metal shop teacher was very good, but I ended up hating welding. Casting was interesting, I just lacked the patience for it to take hold.
I guess the auto restoration department is already pretty broad in its application of restoring old cars.
The video shows a lot of different restored antiques. Bravo!
“a rusted out bug eye Austin Martin.”
Or Austin Powers’ Aston Martin.
Like the show The Repair Shop or a project of King Charles to ensure craft skills are not lost. The people on the repair shop are talented, skilled and love to problem solve a unique situation.
Is the donation contingent upon the school hitting certain DEI goals?
DEI goals might be pretty though in the middle of Kansas.
plan how the income from the endowment is deployed to reimagine and construct the campus of the future, build a much-needed rural health pipeline in Kansas
Hoo boy. That doesn’t sound like they’re planning on being thrifty. That sounds like some Progressive just got told he could have anything in the store as long as he could get it out the door.
“We’re going to have giant columns here and some modern architecture there, and we can tear down all the dorms and put up condos, and everlasting gobstoppers and pipe dreams and fantasies, and…”.
That Sam Bankman-Fried is one generous guy.
My money is on Harry Stine. Who knew there was so much money to be made in the seed business?
Maybe they will offer a course in moral restoration.