Although the university’s $1.4 billion fundraising campaign has come to a conclusion, officials do not expect donations to come to a halt.
For that reason, Benefactors Plaza, the memorial dedicated to those donors, has space allotted for future donations to be recognized.
The plaza, a series of gardens, benches, walkways and pillars behind Old Horticulture Building, was dedicated Oct. 5 in honor of those who donated to Campaign for MSU.
“We felt that something outside gave it more of a sense of permanence and more of a connectiveness with the long history of the university and something more permanent than maybe a plaque on a wall,” said Bob Thomas, director of annual giving and marketing programs.
The campaign, which began in 1999 and culminated in September, surpassed its $1.2 billion goal with a total of $1.44 billion raised.
Thomas said past donors have been recognized on a wall in the Kellogg Center, but that space had already been filled. Instead, Benefactors Plaza provides an area for people to walk, relax and recognize donors.
“I was over there the week before (it was dedicated) and every park bench was full,” Thomas said.
Fourteen pillars line the center of the plaza, bearing the names of donors from 1900 to the present.
“The good news (about the campaign) is that 49 percent of the gifts came from individuals,” MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said.
Thomas said he did not know the cost of the plaza, but that money had been set aside for donor recognition for the campaign.
The pillars’ artwork was done by associate art and art history professor Brian Boldon and Amy Baur, co-owners of a custom imagery business. Their company, In Plain Sight, does projects that place digital images on material such as glass, tile and ceramic.
“The university has had proposals and projects and once we developed this technology, to be able to take laser printing images and infuse to tile, they were interested,” Boldon said.
Eight of the pillars have tiles that have been left blank, allowing space for donors for 14 to 28 more years, Thomas said.
It’s also in a location where more pillars can be added if necessary.
“It’s important for the current generation of students to not only realize that other alumni before them have left a legacy, but for the students to realize they have a responsibility in the next generation,” Thomas said.
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