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May 14, 2004 Community leaders' gifts to benefit diversity, health care and musicWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Gifts totaling nearly $1 million from two leaders of the community portion of the $1.3 billion Campaign for Purdue were announced Friday (May 14) during an event at the new Dick and Sandy Dauch Alumni Center.
Linda Rohrman and Joe Seaman, co-chairs of Purdue's community fund-raising campaign, have pledged a total of $900,000 to benefit areas related to health care, music and multicultural programming. Seaman's pledge was made on behalf of Bank One, where he is president. Purdue President Martin C. Jischke said that in making the gifts, Rohrman and Seaman displayed their commitment not only to the university, but also to the community that depends on it. "Community involvement is extremely important to the Campaign for Purdue, and Linda and Joe have demonstrated leadership by example as both community leaders and friends of the university," Jischke said. "I am sincerely grateful for their devotion to this campaign and the personal investment they have made of their time and resources." Rohrman's $650,000 gift will benefit the School of Nursing, Purdue Cancer Center and Purdue Musical Organizations' Travel and Performance Fund. Bank One's $250,000 gift will go to the Black Cultural Center and the Latino Cultural Center. "Serving on the university's campaign has truly been an eye-opening and educational experience," Rohrman said. "I have had the pleasure to learn more about the many wonderful and exciting things happening at Purdue and how the research and teaching is touching people's lives in a direct way. I wanted my gift to help those who are reaching out to improve the lives of others." Rohrman's $100,000 School of Nursing gift will benefit two areas, with $80,000 designated to the Keep your children/yourself Safe and Secure (KySS) program and $20,000 to the Center for Nursing History, Ethics and Human Rights. In KySS, a program run by the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, Purdue partners with the Mental Health Association of Lafayette to promote community education to help destigmatize mental illness and fund research to survey surrounding underserved rural counties. The Center for Nursing History, Ethics and Human Rights provides a repository for documents and valuable historic items for research purposes, serving as a source in designing future educational tools to focus on the ethical treatment of individuals who experience psychological and social mental health disorders. Rohrman's $300,000 gift to the Purdue Cancer Center will go toward equipment and research. Of that, $200,000 will fund equipment updates and repair, technology enhancements and laboratory supplies. The remaining $100,000 will endow the Linda Rohrman Cancer Research Fund, which will award annual grants to support research in various areas. The remaining $250,000 of Rohrman's gift will go to Purdue Musical Organizations' Travel and Performance Fund, which provides funds to transport students to performances, as well as expand programming to reach a broader and more diverse audience. Seaman said Bank One's $250,000 gift reflects the company's mission to support initiatives that promote and encourage diversity. "Purdue has demonstrated its willingness and initiative to help foster cultural awareness and provide supportive environments in which students and community members can learn and grow as individuals," Seaman said. "Bank One is pleased to support these efforts in hopes of helping the university and community foster a culturally rich and diverse future." Purdue's Black Cultural Center will receive $150,000 over five years to develop a broad-based arts and cultural education program, providing scholarships in arts education, artists-in-residence programs and other initiatives designed to enrich the university and community. The Latino Cultural Center will receive $100,000 over five years to support its operation, maintenance and further development. The facility, which opened this past spring, is located at the intersection of Harrison and Sheetz streets in the South Campus Courts complex. The center was created to assist in the recruitment, retention and success of Purdue's Latino students, faculty and staff, as well as to provide cultural education and awareness opportunities. Seaman and Rohrman, who both live in Lafayette, have been active as community volunteers and leaders. Rohrman is a community volunteer and a graduate of Leadership Lafayette. She has served on the boards of Leadership Lafayette, Group Homes for Children, United Way of Greater Lafayette and the YMCA. She is currently on the board of the Mental Health Association in Tippecanoe County and is its volunteer development director. She also is involved with the local chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Seaman has an extensive background as a community volunteer, including service on Lafayette's High Technology Task Force, Downtown Task Force, Venture Club, Tippecanoe County Public Library Capital Campaign Steering Committee, Purdue Gateways Task Force, Lafayette Neighborhood Housing Services, Community Council, Leadership Lafayette, Community Foundation, Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, Lafayette Urban Enterprise and St. Elizabeth Hospital. He also has been a speaker at the Krannert Executive Forum. There also are four honorary co-chairpersons for the community campaign: Barbara F. Kampen, Bennet R. and Maxine R. Miller, and James Shook. The remainder of the community campaign committee includes Anthony S. Benton, James Bodenmiller, Jerry A Brand, G. Bart Burrell, William F. Connors, Jim R. and Marilynn Dammon, Frederick R. Ford, Robert L. Griffiths, Robert E. Hannemann, Gary D. Henriott, Mary Ann Junius, Peter T. Kissinger, Gary J. Lehman, Betty M. Nelson, Sandra H. Pearlman, Robert C. Reiling Jr., E. Dana Smith Jr., Jay G. Smith, and Charles R. Vaughan. Recent gifts to the community campaign include $3.3 million for scholarships from the Dammons, of West Lafayette, and $500,000 from Shook and his wife, Jan, Lafayette, to fund a distinguished professorship in the School of Chemical Engineering. The last community fund-raising effort for Purdue was conducted in 1994 to support the university's Vision 21 Campaign. The Campaign for Purdue, announced in the fall of 2002, has raised more than $896 million to support efforts to increase student scholarships; recruit and retain faculty; fund programs, centers, and facilities; and purchase equipment. Writer: Jesica E. Webb, (765) 494-2079; jwebb@purdue.edu Sources: Carolyn Gery, (765) 494-6902, cgery@purdue.edu Martin C. Jischke, (765) 494-9708 Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu PHOTO CAPTION:
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