Allegheny College, one of the nation’s oldest and most innovative four-year colleges, where multidisciplinary learning breaks the conventional mold, has announced that it has received a three-part leadership gift totaling $16 million from alumna and Allegheny College trustee emerita Patricia Bush Tippie ’56, and an additional $5 million from an anonymous donor. The donations ensure the College will be able to implement bold improvements and innovations to impact teaching and learning, the student experience, and the region’s economic development.
Underscoring her support for President Ron Cole’s leadership and the Allegheny College Strategic Pathway, Mrs. Tippie’s gift includes a $10 million commitment to renovate Brooks Hall, one of the campus’s most visible and utilized landmarks. The gift will be leveraged to raise an additional $10 million to modernize and upgrade the historic residence hall into a vibrant living and learning space, while utilizing sustainability practices that support the College’s carbon net neutrality.
The gift also includes a five-year, $5 million commitment to create fund-matching opportunities during the College’s annual fundraiser, Gator Give Day, which involves alumni, students, and friends of the College. Also, a $1 million endowed Student Investment Fund is being created in the Bruce R. Thompson Center for Business and Economics. The Student Investment Fund, initiated by business and economics students, will give students real-world experience investing in the stock market and will be 100 percent run by students under the guidance of faculty and an advisory board.
“Significant investments from forward thinking donors like Mrs. Tippie, who are committed to higher education excellence, ensure that Allegheny College is destined to thrive with relevance well into the future,” said President Cole. “On behalf of the Board of Trustees, the faculty, staff, and students, we are grateful to our major donors who make it possible for us to continue to provide access to a transformative education that boldly innovates to meet the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s learners and prepares them for meaningful lives and valuable careers.”
An anonymous donor has given $5 million to revitalize the historic Reis Hall to become the new home for Allegheny’s Center for Interdisciplinary Studies and the Allegheny Lab for Innovation and Creativity (ALIC). Established in 2019, ALIC is an ecosystem of resources that provides students and community partners hands-on experience with emerging and established digital fabrication and design technology to design and build prototypes of products, artistic projects, media, smart devices, robotics, and anything else they can imagine. In addition to building partnerships for regional workforce and economic development, the ALIC empowers Allegheny College students through co-op opportunities, micro-credentials, manufacturing advance placement, and more.
