An email from President Leo Lambert Thursday morning announced Dwight and Martha Schar, P '16, pledged $12 million to go towards the new School of Communications and proposed convocation center. According to Elon, this is the largest single donation in school history.
With the donation, the university says the fundraising campaign for the School of Communications is now at $12.1 million, less than $3 million from the goal of $15 million.
According to the donation web page, the gift from the Schar family will contribute to the building of a 45,000-square-foot building. President Lambert's email said when completed, the new School of Communications "includes two new buildings and two remodeled facilities, more than doubling the space for communications programs and bringing academic programs and student media organizations together into a unified quad."
Jim Piatt, Vice President for University Advancement, says the naming rights, to be finalized in the near future, will go towards the new building.
When it was announced back in October, the School of Communications was expected to break ground in January 2016 but School of Communications Dean Paul Parsons says this lead gift, meaning a gift of $500,000 or more to a university project, could put construction ahead of schedule.
"This lead gift could expedite the project," Parsons said. "We are planning on a fall 2017 move-in date. It could move this up even by a full year."
According to Dean Parsons, groundbreaking on the new school could come as early as summer 2015.
As for the convocation center, the web page announcing the Schar family's donation says the board of trustees have yet to set a design or timetable for completion of the new center.
According to the Elon Commitment, this new facility will seat up to 5,000 people and "will provide a new home for Phoenix athletics as well as be a draw for regional and national attractions, supporting such major events as presidential campaign appearances or debates, appearances by international figures or performing groups, conventions and forums, and annual campus events such as Commencement and convocations."
The Elon Master Plan, released in December 2011, says land at the intersection of O'Kelly Avenue and University Drive is a potential spot for the new convocation center.
According to the donation web page, Dwight Schar is the founder and chairman of the board for NVR, Inc., a Virginia-based homebuilding and mortgage company. He is also co-owner of the Washington Redskins football team and has served as a trustee at Virginia Commonwealth University, George Mason University, the Virginia Foundation of Independent Colleges and Ashland University.
As for Martha Schar, the donation page says she has served on the board of directors for the following organizations: the Rosarian Academy, a private Catholic school in West Palm Beach, the Wesley Housing Development Corporation, a non-profit in Alexandria, and Childhelp, a non-profit working to prevent and treat child abuse.
Dwight and Martha Schar are the parents of Stuart Schar, Class of 2016.