2008 Woodie Awards
Donation commentary lacks merit
Letter to the Editor
Issue date: 2/13/08 Section: Web Extras
I found it ironic that I first read Joe LaBarbera's column "To Give or Not to Give" while sitting in the newly renovated University Center. In the article he complained that our faculty and staff don't give back to the university-or in his words "go through life putting money into their pockets instead of taking it out of their pockets."
This was ironic to me, because all I had to do was glance up to see the new Roberta Avonn Fiskum Art Gallery, donated by a former professor and coach Robert Fiskum and his wife Yvonne in memory of their daughter. I also could have then walked upstairs to the Connor Room, donated by Chancellor Emeritus Jim Connor and his wife Zoe. I could have gone to the Freer Boardroom, donated by Jim and Pat Freer, recent retirees who spent over 30 years of their combined careers working at UW-Whitewater. While the students are paying for the majority of the costs for the new University Center, current and former faculty and staff members donated the vast majority of the money that our students asked us to raise for the facility.
When I arrived on campus nearly 12 years ago, the University was in the midst of a $10 million fundraising campaign that helped with the construction of the Kachel Fieldhouse and increased the amount of student scholarships offered by the UW-Whitewater Foundation fivefold. More than $1 million of that money was secured through donations by faculty and staff members. Since that time, literally dozens of current and former faculty members have created scholarships on campus to benefit our students.
It really is a shame that LaBarbera cannot find evidence that UW-Whitewater faculty and staff are donating back to this institution. When I walk through the University Center, see a performance at the Irvin L. Young Auditorium, play a game of basketball at the Kachel Fieldhouse or take a look at the number of scholarships we have started here on campus, the evidence abounds.
Jonathan Enslin, President UW-Whitewater Foundation, Inc.
This was ironic to me, because all I had to do was glance up to see the new Roberta Avonn Fiskum Art Gallery, donated by a former professor and coach Robert Fiskum and his wife Yvonne in memory of their daughter. I also could have then walked upstairs to the Connor Room, donated by Chancellor Emeritus Jim Connor and his wife Zoe. I could have gone to the Freer Boardroom, donated by Jim and Pat Freer, recent retirees who spent over 30 years of their combined careers working at UW-Whitewater. While the students are paying for the majority of the costs for the new University Center, current and former faculty and staff members donated the vast majority of the money that our students asked us to raise for the facility.
When I arrived on campus nearly 12 years ago, the University was in the midst of a $10 million fundraising campaign that helped with the construction of the Kachel Fieldhouse and increased the amount of student scholarships offered by the UW-Whitewater Foundation fivefold. More than $1 million of that money was secured through donations by faculty and staff members. Since that time, literally dozens of current and former faculty members have created scholarships on campus to benefit our students.
It really is a shame that LaBarbera cannot find evidence that UW-Whitewater faculty and staff are donating back to this institution. When I walk through the University Center, see a performance at the Irvin L. Young Auditorium, play a game of basketball at the Kachel Fieldhouse or take a look at the number of scholarships we have started here on campus, the evidence abounds.
Jonathan Enslin, President UW-Whitewater Foundation, Inc.
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