Written by John Hopkins 330-263-2082 Email Story | Print Story

July 15, 2004

WOOSTER, Ohio - With just under eight months to go, The College of Wooster has raised $4.5 million toward the Walton Family Foundation’s $8 million Kauke Challenge. Overall, Independent Minds: The Campaign for Wooster has raised $90 million toward a goal of $122 million.

The latest boost to the Kauke effort includes a $250,000 grant from the Frost-Parker Foundation of Sandusky, Ohio, and a six-figure gift from a member of the college’s board of trustees.

In January, the Walton foundation announced that $8 million of its previously announced $9 million gift would be used as a challenge grant for the Kauke project. All cash gifts and short-term written pledges received before March 1, 2005 will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Walton gift. Meeting the challenge will allow the college to begin the renovation of the 102-year-old building in the spring of 2005 and complete it by the fall of 2006.

Kauke Hall is the college’s intellectual heart and symbolic centerpiece, home to more than a dozen academic departments. Generations of Wooster students have marched through the building’s central arch on their way to commencement. The $18 million renovation of Kauke is the largest capital project the college has ever undertaken.

The College of Wooster is an independent liberal arts college, nationally recognized for an innovative curriculum that emphasizes independent learning. Each Wooster senior works one-on-one with a faculty mentor to create an original research project, written work, performance or art exhibit. Founded in 1866, the college enrolls approximately 1,800 students.