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

Jan. 30, 2004

WOOSTER, Ohio - The Walton Family Foundation has agreed to allow up to $8 million of its previously announced gift to The College of Wooster to be used as a challenge grant for the renovation of Kauke Hall. One million dollars of the $9 million gift has already been designated to endow a scholarship fund.

All cash received for the Kauke project prior to March 1, 2005 will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Walton gift. Written pledges will also be matched, provided they are paid in full before the campaign ends in June 2007.

Meeting the challenge will allow the college to begin the renovation work in the spring of 2005 and complete it by the fall of 2006.

Kauke Hall is The College of Wooster’s intellectual heart and symbolic centerpiece, home to more than a dozen academic departments, from archaeology to women’s studies. For generations of Wooster students, Kauke has also been where rites of passage occur. They march through the building’s central arch to their first Convocation, and again four years later to Commencement. Each winter, they try to fill the arch with snow in the vain hope that classes will be cancelled.

A century of constant use has taken its toll, however, and a functional but unimaginative 1960s renovation has marred the building’s original beauty as well. Dropped ceilings conceal woodwork and obscure windows. Offices have been carved out of storage rooms. There are no public spaces where students and faculty can gather before and after class.

The $18 million renovation will restore and renew Kauke’s interior from top to bottom. Twenty new, flexible classrooms and seminar rooms and 66 faculty offices will be created, as well as lounges and informal meeting spaces. Technology infrastructure and mechanical systems will be updated, and the entire building will be brought into compliance with ADA regulations. Project architects are MacLachlan Cornelius & Filoni, of Pittsburgh, Pa.

The Kauke Hall renovation is part of the college’s largest fund-raising campaign ever, Independent Minds: The Campaign for Wooster. In all, the campaign seeks to raise $122 million for capital projects, student scholarships, and academic programs by June 30, 2007. To date, the college has raised $84 million toward that goal.

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