$1.25 Million Gift Announcements Launches Campaign

MWSU President Robert Vartabedian and his wife, Dr. Laurel Vartabedian, visit with Dan Boulware in the hospitality tent at Premiere Night.

A reception, a concert and exciting announcements were all part of "Premiere Night at the Missouri Theater," Western's kick off for the public phase of its capital campaign, Achieving Greatness.

"Etch this evening in your memory," Dan Nicoson, vice president for university advancement and executive director of the MWSU Foundation, told the audience of nearly 450 at the historic downtown theater. "Tonight we premiere Western's largest and most ambitious campaign ever."

Dr. Robert Vartabedian, Western's president, announced two major gifts that evening: a $1 million pledge from a graduate who wishes to remain anonymous, and a $250,000 pledge from the Leah Spratt Charitable Trust.

The Leah Spratt Charitable Trust, donor of the $250,000 gift, bears the name of a 1921 graduate of St. Joseph Junior College who founded Western's Writing Across the Curriculum program. Joyce Rochambeau and Rene Rochambeau-McCrary are the trustees, and the trust is administered by U.S. Bank Wealth Management.

The campaign's initial celebration goal is $15 million, three times larger than any previous capital campaign at Western. The campaign will raise $7.5 million for the Remington and Agenstein Halls project; $1 million for scholarships; $5.5 million for the school of business; and $1 million in undesignated funds to meet future emerging needs. Money raised beyond that initial goal may be used for other investments in the future of Western, including athletic facilities, fine arts facilities and resources, library acquisitions and other needs.

The gifts bring the total amount pledged or contributed during the advance phase of Achieving Greatness to just over $13 million, said Dan Nicoson. "We're very thankful for the gifts we've already received, and we'll be working hard to seek broad-based community support for the final $2 million toward our goal," Nicoson said. There will be many opportunities for Western's alumni and friends to contribute to the campaign-either with an outright gift or by making the MWSU Foundation a beneficiary of their estate plans.

The gifts will help support the renovation and expansion of Western's science and mathematics facilities. Construction has begun on Remington Hall, a nearly 60-thousand square-foot addition to Agenstein Hall, the current home for Western's science and math facilities. When Remington Hall is completed, Agenstein Hall will be completely renovated. The million-dollar gift will be used to create an endowment to support activities in the new science and mathematics facilities.

The million-dollar gift announced at the premiere night event was the third seven-figure gift of the campaign. In October, Wes and Patsy Remington of St. Joseph pledged $5 million to the effort. In May, Steven Craig of Newport Beach, Calif., pledged $5.5 million, the largest single gift in school history, to establish the Steven L. Craig School of Business.

The campaign has also received a $150,000 gift from the W.T. Kemper Foundation and $100,000 gifts from the Thanksgiving Fund, the Goppert Foundation, the Beavers Foundation and others. In addition, 78 percent of Western's employees made pledges to the campaign last spring, totaling more than $200,000.

The campaign kick-off event at the Missouri Theater was a way to say thank you to the community for its support of Western, Nicoson said. In addition to hearing about the success of Achieving Greatness so far, the invited guests enjoyed a free, hour-long performance by award-winning recording artist Deana Carter.