Whitworth Given $1.5 Million Toward Building

Whitworth College has received a $1.5 million gift to be put toward a new academic building.

The donor, whose ties to Whitworth date back six decades, has requested to remain anonymous. Additionally, two Whitworth trustees have each pledged $100,000 toward the project.

The new building, which will stand at the heart of Whitworth’s campus, will be the first all-purpose academic facility to be built by the liberal arts Presbyterian college in nearly 50 years.

The gifts bring the college more than a third of the way toward its $5 million fund-raising goal for the new building.

Whitworth trustee John Pouk and his wife, Selma, of Palm Desert, Calif., pledged $75,000 to the building and $25,000 to the Whitworth Fund, which goes toward general operations. The other trustee and his wife who pledged an additional $100,000 also have requested anonymity. Whitworth has 39 trustees.

The new building will provide fully wired classrooms, faculty offices and a state-of-the-art lecture hall.

“The academic building will not only change the landscape of our campus, it will transform the learning environment by bringing together students and faculty from diverse disciplines in technologically advanced classrooms,” said Whitworth President William Robinson in a prepared statement.

Whitworth hopes to break ground on the building within the next two years, provided the $5 million goal is reached.

The building project is the centerpiece of Whitworth’s $50 million “Faith in the Future Campaign.”

The campaign, which was kicked off publicly in October, has raised more than $38 million.

The money also will support endowed chairs and professorships, scholarships, new technology and annual operations.

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The new academic buildng Whitworth’s first in nearly 50 years will provide fully wired classrooms, faculty offices and a state-of-the-art lecture hall.