![\"hagle-group\"](\"https:\/\/news.uns.purdue.edu\/images\/2020\/hagle-groupLO.jpg\")
<\/div>\nPurdue President Mitch Daniels announced the Hagles\u2019 gift on Saturday (Feb. 15) at the President\u2019s Council Naples (Florida) Annual Dinner. He presented the couple, residents of Winter Park, Florida, with the Purdue crystal train \u2014 a Boilermaker Special replica \u2014 in recognition of their gift.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnnouncing the new Marc and Sharon Hagle Hall \u2014 and the leadership gift that makes it possible \u2014 is music to the ears of the more than 15,000 Bands & Orchestras alumni around the world, just as it is to all of us who have had our spirits raised and our hearts touched by the remarkable student performers in Purdue Bands & Orchestras over the years,\u201d Daniels said. \u201cThanks to Marc and Sharon\u2019s exceptional generosity in launching this project, we will have a teaching and learning showcase for this world-class program.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hagle Hall will provide dedicated space for the 133-year-old Bands & Orchestras program, which has operated in Elliott Hall since that facility\u2019s completion in 1940.<\/p>\n
The alumnus champion of the project, Marc Hagle graduated from Purdue with a bachelor\u2019s degree in electrical engineering in 1971 and a master\u2019s in business and industrial administration in 1972. As a student, he performed in the Purdue \u201cAll-American\u201d\u00a0Marching Band drum line, including during Purdue\u2019s 14-13 victory at the 1967 Rose Bowl, and participated in the symphonic band.<\/p>\n
Marc is president and CEO of Tricor International, and he serves as president and managing director of Virgin Fest, a licensee of the Virgin brand to operate music festivals throughout North America and the Caribbean.<\/p>\n
Sharon, an alumna of Morris Harvey College, has been a real estate entrepreneur since 1983 and is active in the couple\u2019s charitable and philanthropic work. She is the founder of SpacekidsGlobal, an organization that seeks to inspire one million elementary school students about space travel and STEM education, with a focus on empowering young girls.<\/p>\n
In 2015, the Hagles contributed to the Roy and Sarah Johnson Purdue Bands & Orchestras Endowment Scholarship Program to honor Roy Johnson\u2019s 60 years of service to Purdue\u2019s instrumental music programs and his role as the \u201cVoice\u201d of the \u201cAll-American\u201d Marching Band.<\/p>\n
On a visit to Purdue several years ago, Marc reconnected with Roy Johnson, and on a more recent trip, he toured Elliott Hall, stopping by the antiquated rooms 15 and 30 rehearsal areas \u2014 visits that prompted the Hagles\u2019 interest in supporting a facility commensurate with the Bands & Orchestras\u2019 high caliber and international acclaim.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe department has outgrown its space two times over, and when we were presented with the proposal to help, we bought into it instantly,\u201d Marc said. \u201cEverybody who participates in Bands & Orchestras has an opportunity that will affect them for the rest of their lives, as it did mine. It is a terrific character-building experience, and the dedication you put into it pays you back in\u00a0personal reward many times over.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are excited about the opportunity to make a difference,\u201d Sharon added.<\/p>\n
![\"hagles-bands\"](\"https:\/\/news.uns.purdue.edu\/images\/2020\/hagle-group.jpg\")
<\/div>\nMarc credits Jay Gephart, the Al G. Wright Chair, director of bands and professor of music, for elevating the national and international reputation of the \u201cAll-American\u201d Marching Band since being appointed its director in 2006. In 2010, the band became the first from the Big Ten to lead the Macy\u2019s Thanksgiving Day Parade. During his tenure, Gephart has led the band in numerous international performances, including concerts in China, Ireland and Colombia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has been talk about a new facility since I came to Purdue in 1995,\u201d Gephart said. \u201cIt took Marc and Sharon\u2019s personal involvement, generosity and drive to put our dream on the fast track. This building is the game changer we\u2019ve needed to take our \u2018Giant Leap\u2019 forward as a program. That\u2019s how important Marc and Sharon\u2019s lead gift is. This facility will transform the way our students learn and how this department operates.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since fall 2013, the university \u2014 which has no music school \u2014 has seen a 65% growth in participation in Bands & Orchestras and now counts more than 1,120 students in more than 30 ensembles, concert bands and jazz bands, as well as the marching band. These students, more than 70% of whom are in STEM disciplines, boast an average GPA of 3.28, which is higher than the Purdue average. A YouTube video is available\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Gephart noted that the new building\u2019s location will bring greater visibility to the program as part of the academic environment. Students and passersby will be able to see rehearsals from Third Street, which will become a pedestrian thoroughfare by the beginning of the 2020-21 academic year.<\/p>\n Other features of the building:<\/p>\n Adjacent to the marching band\u2019s Hull Field rehearsal space, an expansion to the Turf Recreation Exercise Center, or TREC, will provide restrooms, changing facilities, instrument and uniform storage and, in case of inclement weather, indoor practice space.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are excited about the future and for what this new facility will mean for all of our students,\u201d Gephart said. \u201cWhat we have done and will do, as alumni and friends working together, will be remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n