Spelman College has received the largest gift from living donors in its 137-year history from long-standing Spelman trustee Ronda Stryker and spouse William Johnston. The transformative $30 million gift will help build the Center for Innovation & the Arts, the College’s first new academic facility since 1996.
Chicago architect, Jeanne Gang, founding principal of the firm Studio Gang, has completed a schematic design of the 85,000-square-foot building that will occupy a current parking lot at Spelman at the corner of Westview Drive and Lee Street.
“As former educators who believe strongly in social justice, Bill and I have great appreciation for how Spelman provides a superior education for students that encourages them to be global change agents,” said Stryker, a director of the medical equipment company Stryker Corp., as well as vice chair and director of Greenleaf Trust, an investment bank chaired by Johnston. “Spelman alumnae are leaders across every field imaginable, breaking new ground, while tackling some of the world’s most challenging issues from health disparities to the digital divide. We are thrilled to support a building that will encourage students to master technology, innovation and the arts.”
Stryker has been a trustee of Spelman since 1997 and currently serves as the vice chair of the Spelman College Board of Trustees and chair of the Board’s Arts, Innovation & Technology Committee.
Consistent and extraordinary giving from the Stryker family has had a significant impact on Spelman. Their gift to establish the Gordon-Zeto Center for Global Education, for example, funded the expansion and ongoing operation of the College’s study abroad program. As a result, the Institute of International Education’s Open Doors report notes that Spelman sends more Black students to study abroad than any other baccalaureate college in the country with 75 percent of its 2018 graduating class having studied abroad.
Support from the Stryker family has benefitted numerous other Spelman initiatives, including the Spelman CollegeMuseum of Fine Arts, science initiatives, summer internships, the Annual Fund, the President’s Safety Net Fund, and renovations to Sisters Chapel and the Wellness Center at Read Hall.
“Ronda Stryker has been staunchly committed to the mission and ideals of Spelman College for more than 20 years. She has been an unstinting advocate for our students and has supported a wide range of strategic initiatives, critical to Spelman’s long term sustainability and the success of our students,” said Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., president of Spelman. “With this historic gift, yet again, Ronda’s support will be transformational. Her contribution ensures that Spelmanstudents will be prepared to tackle the challenges of our changing world through innovation, creativity and the dynamic intersection of science, technology, engineering, arts and math (also known as STEAM).”
Including the gift from Stryker and Johnston, the College has raised more than one-third of the total cost of the CI&A, which received its first support from Leonard and Louise Riggio in 2016. The cost of the new facility, which includes an operating endowment and state of the art technology, is $86 million.
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