Brown Foundation awards Centre $1 million challenge grant

RELEASED: Dec. 28, 2006

DANVILLE, KY—As the Campaign for A More Perfect Centre moves into its final 12 months, the James Graham Brown Foundation of Louisville has awarded the College a $1 million challenge grant for endowment growth.  The terms of the grant require the College to first raise $3 million in new scholarship endowment monies between December 1, 2006, and December 31, 2007—the Campaign's end date. The $3 million in new endowment monies may be added to any existing scholarship fund or used to establish new endowed scholarships. When the $3 million goal is reached, the Brown Foundation will present $1 million to the College for the endowment of the James Graham Brown Scholarship Fund.

The Campaign for A More Perfect Centre has already succeeded in generating gifts and pledges totaling $132.4 million, against a goal of $120 million. Within the Campaign, generating new endowment monies for student scholarships is not only the Campaign's top funding priority, but it also is the College's top strategic priority.

Says Centre President John Roush, "We are keenly aware that the rising cost of providing a top-flight undergraduate education is driving student charges beyond the reach of many families. But it is important to us to make a Centre education available to any bright and aspiring young person who wants to be here and who should be here, regardless of that student's financial background. For this reason, the strategic plan, which the Campaign for A More Perfect Centre seeks to fund, identified increasing endowment for student scholarships as the College's top priority."

The James Graham Brown Foundation has long been an important partner of the College in extending the opportunity for a Centre education to students from Kentucky. At $16.7 million, the James Graham Brown Scholarship Fund has the largest endowment of any scholarship fund at Centre. This year 102 students from Kentucky are receiving James Graham Brown Scholarships ranging from $5,000 to $13,000.

"It is extraordinarily generous of the Brown Foundation, which already has been a major player in the success of the Campaign for A More Perfect Centre, to offer to add another $1 million to its scholarship fund when the College raises an additional $3 million in scholarship endowment support from others," Roush says. "This challenge grant will help the campus community and all of Centre's alumni and friends to stay focused on our top priorities and most important values during the final year of this exciting Campaign."

Randy Kell '69, Campaign chair, was equally enthusiastic in his response to the news of the Brown Foundation's challenge grant. "What a blessing it is to receive a major challenge grant for the final year of the Campaign for A More Perfect Centre, " Kell says. "This challenge grant helps ensure that the Campaign will not lose momentum as we head into the homestretch.  Centre's alumni and friends will be determined to win that $1 million addition to the Brown Scholarship Fund's endowment."

Richard Trollinger, vice president for college relations, added, "The desire to give back and the hope of making a difference in the lives of others consistently top the list of reasons Americans offer as motivations for their charitable giving. With 60 percent of Centre students requiring some level of assistance in meeting their educational expenses, it is hard to imagine a more effective way for donors to achieve these purposes than by endowing a student scholarship."

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

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