Kentucky $250M Donation to Centre College To Fund 40 Scholarships

A $250 million donation has been made to the small Kentucky liberal arts school of Centre College.

The gift was given by the A. Eugene Brockman Charitable Trust, named after the founder of Universal Computer Systems Inc., the Christian Science Monitor reported.

The funds will establish 40 new Brockman Scholarships beginning next year, according to the school which his located in Danville, Ky., a rural town of about 18,000 inhabitants approximately 35 miles south of Lexington.

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The school has an anticipated enrollment of just 1,375 students this coming fall.

The monumental gift is the largest donation ever given to a liberal arts college in the history of U.S. higher education, the school said. The gift is also among the largest donations ever to be received by any educational institution in the U.S., the Los Angeles Times notes.

"The gift marks a fundamental transformation in Centre College's ability to support students whose hard work, character and intellect have demonstrated their potential for leadership," college President John A. Roush said. "The challenges and opportunities confronting our nation and world are increasingly complex, and the Brockman Scholars Program will empower talented young women and men with the knowledge, creativity and integrity necessary to address them."

The 40 merit-based Brockman Scholarships that will be funded through the gift will go to students "majoring in the natural and computational sciences and economics," and will cover tuition, room and board and fees as well as internships, summer research, and study aboard, according to school.

A. Eugene Brockman's son, Robert T. Brockman, attended Centre from 1959 to 1961 and is a former chairman of the school's board of trustees, the Los Angeles Times notes.

The Brockman Trust had previously given $19.5 million toward the construction of a dorm for upperclassmen that opened a year ago at Centre, the Huffington Post reported.

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The donation is part of a $500 million fundraising campaign by the school in the lead up to the college's bicentennial celebration in January 2019.

Richard Trollinger, Centre College’s vice president for college relations, told the Huffington Post that whereas the gift's size might provide some with "an excuse not to give," sizeable gifts such as these also "tend to inspire more giving than they discourage. And that's certainly what we're banking on going into this campaign."

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