Spring Break
CoMAD receives $25 million gift
Janhavi Purohit
Issue date: 1/9/09 Section: News
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The gift was given by an anonymous donor, who is a trustee of the University, according to Mark Greenberg, interim provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs.
"He so much supports the mission of the University," Greenberg said. "He decided to share with us some of the wealth he has accumulated."
Philly.com reported Jan. 7 that Urban Outfitters founder Richard A. Hayne contributed to the donation.
"Out of respect for the donor's wishes we are not going to comment on the source of the gift," Noah Cohen, a University spokesman, said.
According to Allen Sabinson, dean of the Westphal College, the money is intended for the development and expansion of the college and has been put toward the purchase of two new buildings, one at 3501 Market St. and the other a block north, on Filbert Street. The Market Street building, at about 130,000 square feet, was designed by architect Robert Venturi, according to Sabinson.
"Our president likes notable architects, and Robert Venturi is up there in the pantheon of architects," Sabinson said.
The second building encompasses about 13,000 square feet. Both buildings are on about three acres of land, according to Sabinson, and both come with parking lots.
Sabinson said the buildings will be used as part of the academic and administrative buildings for Westphal College.
"Our goal is to concentrate our graphic design programs within the two new buildings - fashion design, design merchandising, graphic design, architecture, interior design - and other programs that if we have space, I hope to get in there," Sabinson said.
Beyond housing parts of the Westphal College, the new buildings will also provide room for future expansion, Sabinson added.
According to Sabinson, the Westphal College has specialized needs, including issues with exhibition space and room for the historic costume collection, that can now be addressed. Sabinson said the college was also looking to build a "small black box" performing space for its students.
The college will also be introducing a new major in product design, which, according to Sabinson, will be interdisciplinary, and is slated for launch in September 2010. The two new buildings will include studios to accommodate for the curriculum of this new major.
Sabinson said the most significant effect of the gift will be that fields that have "tremendous connections" to each other, such as architecture and interior design, will be put in proximity to each other.
"Students and faculty will interact and be able to do creative work and exchange ideas and collaborate on research and really broaden a view of our design students beyond their individual disciplines," Sabinson said. "It will foster interdisciplinary collaboration."
The process of analyzing and developing plans for the buildings is currently underway, Sabinson said. The next step will be a design phase to make specific plans and determine costs. Sabinson said he hopes to house administrative presence in the building as early as fall 2009 and academic programs by fall 2010.
John Zabinski, associate vice president and campaign manager at Drexel, said the total cost of the project is estimated at $55 million.
Drexel will be responsible for raising about $30 million in funding on its own. Zabinski said the University is looking to its other donors for contributions and funding.
According to Greenberg, the donation is also significant in the impact it will have for the University as a whole.
"A gift like this is transformative - it will transform all of Drexel. The reason it will do that is because Drexel is a university made of parts, and it is always stronger than its parts. But that happens when you build up those parts themselves," Greenberg said.
Sabinson added that an important part of the gift is that it will extend Drexel's campus westward on Market Street, adding a "considerable" piece of real estate to the University. According to Zabinski, the size of the campus will expand by about 3 percent, and the property, which is contiguous to the campus, is a "phenomenal opportunity."
"Something that is contiguous to your university is a wonderful, wonderful opportunity. I can't explain how important that is for the overall direction of the University," Zabinski said.
Sabinson and Zabinski expressed their gratitude toward their donor for the $25 million and emphasized the "excitement" among members of the Westphal community.
"This is a miraculous thing to have received this incredible amount of financial support and to be able to purchase these buildings," Sabinson said. "The gift, the largest in the University's history, is a wonderful recognition of what this college has been achieving and succeeding in doing for years. This gift will change the future of our students to come."
Zabinski emphasized the economic importance of the money as well, stating that while $25 million is "great" in good economic times, it is "phenomenal" considering the state of the economy at present.
Zabinski said the expansion was a result of Drexel's "innovation and success" among other things, and that it would "absolutely, without a doubt, raise the profile" of the University.
"This is what sets Drexel apart, in my opinion. This is why I work here. This is a school that has vision and strong leadership, and that's why these things happen," Zabinski said. "It gets me excited as a person that does this for a living, and in turn the students should be excited for what it will do for the school."
This article has been edited.
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