Improving the
living and learning
environment at
the University
of Delaware
n early 1990, University of Delaware Marine Studies Prof. Thomas M. Church had a problem. Plaster had fallen from the ceiling of his laboratory in Robinson Hall, contaminating the air samples he had collected to learn more about trace metals associated with acid rain.
Thanks to private and public support, a $2.8 million renovation project had been completed in Robinson Hall by 1992. Today, the building features a new heating/ventilation and air-conditioning system, additional drainage and waterproofing systems, improved roofing and handicapped accessibility. In addition,
Church and his students can now measure substances at the parts-per-million level in the Lammot du Pont Laboratory, a $20 million facility featuring specially designed clean rooms. Unveiled in 1993, the facility is an impressive drawing card for the University's top-rated marine studies, chemistry and chemical engineering departments. The Lammot du Pont Laboratory was made possible by private donations of $3 million, which helped the University secure another $17 million in state funds.
Robinson Hall was just one of many buildings in need of repair six years ago. Following several years of rapidly rising costs and a high national inflation rate, a dozen aging facilities, from Recitation Hall and McKinly Laboratory to the historic George Evans House,were suffering from deferred maintenance, recalls Thomas Vacha, assistant vice president for facilities. Building upkeep wasn't the only challenge facing the University of Delaware, either. At a time when families were tightening their belts, the University was perceived by many as a
"high-cost institution." Recruiters found themselves locked in fierce competition for the best and brightest students, and lagging compensation levels had left many University employees feeling demoralized.
But, there was good news, too. Some of the most respected teachers and scholars in the country were working at the University of Delaware. The school also had the good services of a dedicated and talented team of professional and support staff members. Though many buildings needed repair, facilities were generally well designed, and landscape features created a pleasing, natural environment for students. A substantial endowment was being wisely managed, and legislators had already approved initial funding for two key projects: the Bob Carpenter Sports/Convocation Center and the Lammot du Pont Laboratory.
The University's challenges in 1990 were real, but not insurmountable. In 1996, thanks in large part to private giving, many older facilities are as good as new, and the addition of multi-media technology to refurbished classrooms has made them better than new. Four newly constructed buildings, the Bob Carpenter Sports/Convocation Center, the Allan P. Colburn Laboratory, the Lammot du Pont Laboratory and the
Trabant University Center, provide additional classroom, laboratory, dining and recreational space for students, faculty and staff. Three other facilities are now under construction. Gore Hall will soon house additional state-of-the-art classrooms equipped with multi-media technologies, and MBNA America Hall will feature case-study laboratories and formal meeting space for the
College of Business and Economics. A third facility, the Allen Laboratory, will support the Delmarva Peninsula's billion-dollar poultry industry and give students an opportunity to work in world-class facilities.
Private gifts and University funds covered well in excess of half the total cost of these major projects. Without a doubt, the University's rapid physical transformation was the direct result of increasingly strong support from private donors, who helped boost gift income by 88.8 percent between F.Y. 1990 and F.Y. 1996, from $12.5 million to $23.6 million. By helping the University achieve a 140 percent increase in undergraduate scholarships since 1990, private giving also makes it possible to create a diverse campus community, where the great majority of all freshmen were ranked in the top 25 percent of their high school class. Private gifts assisted the University during the first half of the 1990s, when the state was forced to keep its appropriations at a modest level because of a weak national economy. With continued support from private and public sources, the University is now well-positioned to create an increasingly strong foundation for future generations of student scholars.
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