The University of Delaware Alumni Association has made a $500,000 commitment to the new Center for the Arts, which is expected to open in 2006 and will provide expanded performance and practice space for music and theatre.

The association's board of directors voted unanimously in support of the gift, according to Robert R. Davis, vice president for University development and alumni relations. The gift is in honor of all UD current students and alumni worldwide, he says.

"The Alumni Association has given generously to support scholarships, professorships and other programs at the University," Davis says. "This commitment to the Center for the Arts is another example of the ways the association benefits students, faculty and the entire community."

Julie Moyer Knowles, president of the association, says the new arts center "is a project we're behind 100 percent," adding that the building will provides venues for public performances that currently are not available.

"We see this center as an important project to enhance services to the students and to the community itself," Knowles says. "And so, the Alumni Association wanted to give it our financial support."

The association, of which all UD alumni are members, supports a variety of programs and receives much of its income from proceeds of the MBNA University of Delaware Alumni Association credit card. The card has no annual fee and provides royalties to the Alumni Association each time a cardholder uses it to make a purchase.

The association has contributed $1.3 million to establish the Alumni Scholars Program, which provides merit-based scholarships to academically talented students, and has endowed three Alumni Distinguished Professorships.

It also has provided about $100,000 in Alumni Enrichment Awards to more than 100 current students. The awards, available to individuals and registered student organizations, are given to allow students to take part in enriching activities in which they would not otherwise be able to participate. Examples of recent projects supported by enrichment awards include an undergraduate who assisted with research in the Peruvian rain forest during Winter Session and a registered student organization that helped build houses with Habitat for Humanity in West Virginia during spring vacation.

Another Alumni Association initiative is the ongoing "Alumni Challenge," in which the association will match, dollar for dollar, any gift to the University that is made by an alumnus who never previously donated.

The association also offers a health insurance program to bridge the gap in coverage that often affects new graduates, sponsors student study breaks during exam periods, works with the University's Spirit Ambassadors student group and hosts Legacy Luncheons for students whose parents are UD alumni. More information about these and other Alumni Association programs is available on the web site [www.udel.edu/alumni].

The $42 million Center for the Arts will be constructed off Orchard Road in what has been the Amy E. du Pont Music Building parking lot. It will provide new and expanded performance space for music and theatre, a large practice venue for the Marching Band and smaller rehearsal and practice space for music students.

Plans for the project were made public in fall 2003, when President David P. Roselle announced that the University would receive one of the largest gifts in its history toward construction of the 92,000-square-foot center. He noted that current practice facilities have become inadequate to accommodate the growing number of UD students who major or take courses in music.

The Alumni Association's donation will be earmarked for a naming opportunity in the center, although the specific project has not yet been decided. Various naming opportunities are available at the new center. They include:

• Theatre Hall, a 450-seat proscenium theatre ($4 million);
  
  
• Recital Hall, a warm, intimate concert hall with 200 seats ($4 million);
  
  
• Orchestra Rehearsal Hall, a large-volume space with retractable seating for 300, which will provide the Marching Band its first indoor practice space during inclement weather ($2 million);
  
  
• Rehearsal Hall/Black Box Theatre, which may be used for student performance groups and private functions ($1 million);
  
  
• Lobby Atrium and Gallery, a 5,600-square-foot main lobby space that will serve as the entrance to the Theatre Hall and Recital Hall ($2 million);
  
  
• Landscaped spaces and gardens, including the Center for the Arts Green ($500,000), Orchard Road Main Lobby Garden ($250,000), Arrival Court Garden and Pergola Garden ($100,000 each); and
  
  
• Key music spaces and practice rooms, including the Music Library and Electronic Composition Laboratory ($100,000 each), three Music Ensemble Practice and Rehearsal Rooms and three Piano and Double Piano Practice Rooms ($50,000 each), five Medium Practice Rooms for three to five student or faculty musicians ($35,000 each) and 21 Small Practice Rooms for one or two musicians ($25,000 each).

For more information about naming opportunities at the Center for the Arts, contact the Office of University Development, (302) 831-2104.