Kentucky’s Centre College Lands $250M Donation
A small Kentucky college got a massive $250m donation. In layman’s terms, that means that 160 students at Centre College will receive a free ride for several years to come.
The tiny liberal arts college hosted two vice presidential election debates, including 2012. The donation comes from the A. Eugene Brockman Charitable Trust, named after the founder of Universal Computer Systems Inc.
The $250 million donation will fund 40 brand new Brockman Scholarships each year, beginning next year, reports Reuters. The school is expecting 1,375 students to be enrolled this fall.
The Brockman Trust released a statement about their donation to the Kentucky college, explaining that it chose Centre College partially because Bob Brockman, the chairman of the company, went to the school. His time there made a “tremendous impact” on him.
Richard Trollinger, the vice president for college relations at the school, recalled the moment he was told of the $250 million donation. He stated, “You could have knocked me over with a feather.”
NBC News notes that the donation was made in stock for Universal Computer Systems Inc. and represents the second-largest gift to a US school since 2011. Centre College President John A. Roush added of the gift:
“The problems and the opportunities confronting our nation and world are increasingly complex, and the Brockman Scholars Program will empower talented young women and men with the knowledge, creativity and integrity necessary to address them.”
The donation will fund merit-based scholarships to cover tuition, room and board, and other fees, which will cost $45,100 for the upcoming school year. The money will also support study abroad, summer research, and internships.
Centre College is located in picturesque Danville, Kentucky, which has about 16,000 residents. This wasn’t the first time the Brockman Trust supported the school either, though its certainly the largest. A previous gift of $19.5 million went toward construction of an upperclassmen dorm, which opened last year.
[Image by Arwcheek via Wikimedia Commons]
