Vol. 18, No. 27	April 15, 1999

Capital campaign nears half-way mark in 6 months

The University is nearly halfway toward reaching its $225 million capital campaign goal, President David P. Roselle announced at the semiannual General Faculty meeting April 12.

"Today, I'm proud to tell you that we have--in gifts and pledges--nearly $110 million," Roselle said. "We're nearing 50 percent of of our goal, and we're in the first year of the campaign. We know that bodes very well for the future of our University."

The overall $225 million goal of Campaign for Delaware, launched last October, seeks $50 million for student support, $35 million for faculty support, $40 million for academic program support, $50 million in capital support and $50 million in expendable gifts to the University.

During the meeting, Roselle cited "some of the remarkable gifts" made thus far in the campaign:

• Friends of Ed Woolard, former CEO of the DuPont Co., established a $1 million endowed professorship in the College of Business and Economics;
• Two gifts of $250,000 each were made by Majorie Johnson Squire Tilghman, AS '28, for endowed professorships in English and history, and a gift was received from Ron Finch, AS '56, for another endowed professorship in history;
• Robert L. Richards of the Class of 1950 and Joyce H. Richards of the Class of 1951 created a fellowship to support a married graduate student in engineering through a gift of $100,000;
• As his retirement gift to the University, Richard B. Murray, professor emeritus of physics and astronomy, and his wife, Clella, have helped establish an endowed professorship in the Department of Physics and Astronomy; and
• A $1 million endowment for the Louis Redding Chair for the Study of Law and Public Policy in the College of Human Resources, Education and Public Policy is well on its way. Mr. Redding was Delaware's first African-American lawyer and a civil rights icon. He argued part of the Brown vs. the Board of Education case before the U.S. Supreme Court that led to the desegregation of public schools in the 1950s. Support has come from MBNA America, members of the Delaware Bar and a combination of corporate, government and individual gifts.

President Roselle told the faculty that, when the campaign started, there were only two faculty chairs at the University with endowments in excess of $1 million.

"If things go as expected in the next few months," he said, "there will be more than 20 such endowments."

Several donations that enhance the University's infrastructure also were mentioned by the president:

• The Longwood Foundation has made a gift of $10 million and the Crystal Trust has made a gift of $2 million for the expansion of DuPont Hall. Allan Greenberg, the architect who created Gore Hall, is designing the new building.
• Fred Rullo of the Class of 1963 and his wife, Madeleine, gave a $1 million gift for Fred Rullo Stadium, the first UD athletic facility with an artificial turf playing field. The stadium is home to women's field hockey and men's and women's lacrosse, as well as other recreation events.
• In Southern Delaware, Eleanor and the late Charles Paradee made a $2.6 million commitment to establish the Paradee Center in Dover, which provides a central, accessible location for a number of UD programs.

Roselle concluded his presentation with slides showing landscaping projects and renovated buildings on campus, including Memorial Hall, which will be rededicated on May 16, and Bayard Sharp Chapel, the 1843 Episcopal Church on Delaware Avenue that will serve as a music gallery.

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