Mon, December 23, 2002
A $15 million gift - the largest
in Valparaiso University history
- will help fund construction
of a new campus building that
will bear the name of the family
of the donors.
The gift from Doris and Jay Christopher
of River Forest, Ill., supports
construction of the building that
will be named the Christopher
Center for Library and Information
Resources. Work on the $33-million
project began last spring. The
four-story, 105,000-square-foot
facility, which will combine the
University's library and electronic
information services in a state-of-the-art
learning center, is scheduled
to open in fall 2004.
Doris Christopher is founder of
The Pampered Chef Ltd., which
she started in the basement of
her home and with her husband
built into the nation's largest
direct seller of housewares with
annual sales of more than $740
million. She is now chairman of
The Pampered Chef, which the Christophers
sold to Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
earlier this year.
Jay Christopher, who served as
executive vice president of The
Pampered Chef and now is chairman
of the Thatcher Corporation, is
a graduate of Valparaiso University
and serves on its Board of Directors.
The Christophers each were awarded
honorary doctor of laws degrees
by the University in 1999.
Naming of the building honors
the Christopher family, which
has a lengthy association with
the University, according to VU
President Dr. Alan Harre.
When Jay Christopher graduated
from the University in 1967, he
continued a family tradition started
by his parents, both of whom attended
the University. His late father
also graduated from the VU School
of Law and his brother, Scott,
earned undergraduate and law degrees
from VU. Doris and Jay Christopher's
daughter, Kelley, is the third
generation of the family to graduate
from the University.
"We
are extremely grateful to the
Christophers for their generous
contribution to this project and
for their support of the University
over the years," President
Harre said. "Doris and Jay
Christopher have earned numerous
honors as successful entrepreneurs
and they merit similar recognition
as philanthropists.
"It
is appropriate that the building
carry the Christopher name in
recognition of the family's financial
support and its long ties to the
institution. The new Christopher
Center will be a jewel among our
campus facilities and is certain
to become the academic hub of
the University," he said.
The building will be nearly double
the size of the current University
library and is uniquely designed
to integrate library and electronic
information services to meet current
needs such as wireless networking
and provide flexibility to accommodate
emerging technology.
The Christopher Center will have
space for the Moellering library
collection, including periodicals
and reference
materials; the University archives;
classrooms; offices; a small café;
and a 60-seat computer lab designed
for multiple uses. The media library
and Electronic Information Services'
Help Desk will be accessible at
a single service desk.
The Christopher Center also will
feature a high-density automated
book storage and retrieval system,
a Community Room suitable for
a variety of uses and a high-tech
conference room. There will be
areas designed for collaborative
group study as well as reading
rooms and lounges.
The Christopher gift fulfills
a pledge made earlier to the University's
$75 million campaign that ultimately
secured $121 million for the new
building, endowment and other
projects.
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