Aggies have dug into their pocketbooks to support their alma mater's student center with $5.7 million in donations, part of a $20 million campaign to help pay for its renovation.
The Memorial Student Center is set to open again before the fall 2012 semester. The $105 million upgrade project will add space to the complex and bring it into compliance with building codes and Americans with Disabilities Act standards, officials said.
The fundraising effort -- called "Our MSC: A Tribute to Honor" -- will help pay for further improvements, including enhancing the patio area in front of the building and adding new furniture to different areas.
The largest chunk of the overall project was paid for by students. About $82 million will come from a $60-per-semester rise in student fees that went into effect in fall 2008, an increase students approved the year before. Roughly 6,200 students voted in a two-day referendum, with about 68 percent supporting the measure.
An additional $5 million comes from Dining Services, with the remaining $18 million from university money that was set aside for safety improvements, officials said.
"Whether the building was being renovated or not, the fire, life and safety issues needed to be addressed regardless," said A&M spokesman Jason Cook.
Ground was broken for the MSC in 1951, when fewer than 7,000 students attended Texas A&M. The building was renovated in the early 1970s when enrollment was about 11,000 and again in the early 1990s, when about 32,000 students attended. The university had nearly 49,000 students last fall.
Lead donors to the MSC campaign include College Station residents Patti and Weldon Kruger, who donated real estate to the Texas A&M Foundation with the understanding that some proceeds from its sale would be used for MSC renovations.
"I was always amazed with all the changes on the A&M campus," said Weldon Kruger, a petroleum engineering graduate from the Class of 1953. "But the spirit of the place stayed about the same, and the MSC has a lot to do with that."
The latest gift is $1 million from Trisha and L.C. "Chaz" Neely Jr. of San Antonio.
"I was impressed that students voted to pay for most of the renovation," L.C. Neely said in a news release. "I hope our gift will encourage other Aggies to give back in some way."
Donors who recently gave $200,000 to the project include Kay and Jerry Cox of Houston, Joy and Ralph Ellis of Irving, former A&M Foundation trustee Ray Rothrock and his wife, Meredith, and Jane and R. Ken Williams of Midland. Their names will appear on pillars in the MSC's Flag Room.
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