Spring 2008 | Volume 31, No. 2

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Extraordinary giving

In July of 2007, Cornell lost a very dear friend in Dorris Board Hill ’43, who died at age 84. Her ties to the Hilltop led her to leave $1.5 million to endow a music scholarship that will bear her name, as well as a scholarship in politics in honor of her husband, Robert Hill Jr. ’47.

In December, the Dean Riesen Foundation, supported by Dean Riesen ’79 and Bambi Hull Riesen ’82, donated $1 million to modernize The Commons, support the creation of the Cornell Fellows program, initiate a program to bring outside scholars to campus to teach courses, and to establish the Roe Howard Freedom Lecture series.

Before the calendar turned to 2008, Cornell received a $3 million award from The Hall-Perrine Foundation of Cedar Rapids after raising the matching funds 12 months ahead of schedule. The funds will help Cornell College expand and remodel The Commons. Cornell was to raise the $6 million in 2-to-1 matching funds by December of 2008, but beat that deadline by a year thanks to the generosity of its alumni.

In the first month of 2008, the college announced that John Lively ’55 endowed $1.3 million for a scholarship fund to benefit students in and around Marshall County, Iowa, where Lively grew up and worked for a time.

In February, Cornell was awarded a grant from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust in the amount of $178,521 to purchase equipment for the biochemistry and molecular biology program.

Finally, Cornell announced two major gifts in March: $1 million from Peter Paul Luce, and a $700,000 planned gift from Warren DePrenger ’55. The gift from Luce, a parent and life trustee, will expand and modernize Cornell College’s admission center. DePrenger, owner and founder of Matman Wrestling, donated proceeds of a pension plan. His gift is not restricted to athletics and will be used for the highest needs of the college.

Through the generosity of these alumni and many, many others, the Campaign for Cornell has achieved over $79 million of its $92 million goal. The campaign continues through the end of 2009 and will enhance the Cornell experience by increasing the college’s endowment, upgrading its facilities, and enhancing the academic program.

For more information about the campaign or making a gift, visit: cornellcollege.edu/campaign.

Extraordinary events

Cornell College officially launched the Extraordinary Opportunities Campaign at the Wakonda Club in Des Moines, Iowa, in January; at the Kerr Cultural Center in Scottsdale, Ariz., in March; and at the Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago in April. With Cornell graduates as young as Tia Bougher ’05 and as young-at-heart as Ruth Stevens ’50 in attendance, President Les Garner introduced Cornell’s $92 million campaign by announcing the campaign had already raised over $78 million.

Alumni and friends enjoyed dinner, drinks, dessert, and the company of fellow Cornellians, punctuated by announced improvements, additions, and upgrades to the campus that will truly create extraordinary opportunities for alumni to come.

But if you missed out on these events, don’t worry. Upcoming Extraordinary Opportunities events may be coming to a city near you:

• Nov. 15, 2008 Minneapolis Area: Interlachen Country Club
• April 25, 2009 Washington, D.C., Area: Home of John McGrane ’73 and Marty Benson McGrane ’73