Canada’s biggest student pledge
enriches best student experience
President Paul Davenport, centre, celebrates Canada's biggest ever student pledge with USC President Tom Stevenson (left) and SOGS President Duane Jacques in the atrium of the University Community Centre.
On January 24, Western students presented our campus community with the largest financial contribution ever from a student body to a Canadian university.
The extraordinary pledge made by the University Students’ Council (USC), the Society of Graduate Students (SOGS) and the Ivey MBA Student Association will total $101 million over the next 30 years. Of the total contribution, $29.3 million will count toward Western’s upcoming fundraising campaign, to be publicly launched next year.
The students’ total pledge consists of a 30-year, $86.2-million commitment to support construction and operation of the new Western Sports and Recreation Centre. The remaining $14.8 million will be directed to undergraduate and graduate bursaries between now and 2018.
This unsurpassed contribution provides tremendous momentum to what will be Western’s largest-ever fundraising campaign, and it serves as a wonderful inspiration for other donors, including faculty and staff. Thanks to the students’ generosity, Western will soon have one of the finest recreation facilities of any university in the country, further enriching the outstanding student experience we already provide on campus.
I am also delighted that our students recognize the need to assist those students who have difficulty in funding their education. Thanks to matching funds from the provincial government’s Ontario Trust for Student Support program, the impact of the students’ $14.8-million contribution to fund student bursaries will actually double to $29.6 million, providing more than 650 bursaries annually, with an average value of $2,000.
I wish to extend my sincerest thanks and congratulations to Western's student leaders and the entire student body for making this truly remarkable contribution to our University's future. For more information and a video on the impact the students' gift will make on our campus, visit http://communications.uwo.ca/weblogs/USC_donation_video/USC_donation.html
