Adelphi Garners Prestigious Grant

Adelphi University has received a $600,000 challenge grant from the Kresge Foundation of Troy, Michigan to support construction of its new Recreation and Sports Center and the renovation of its Woodruff Hall gymnasium. To meet the challenge from the well-known and highly selective foundation, Adelphi will raise $3 million in 18 months, as part of The Campaign for Adelphi University, Adelphi's first-ever comprehensive campaign.

Widely known for its funding of transformative projects, the Kresge Foundation is considered one of the most selective and prestigious foundations in the United States. Adelphi was one of only four institutions of higher education in New York State to receive support in the Kresge Foundation's Septem-ber 2007 round of grant funding, which totaled $45.5 million nationally.

Adelphi's commitment to diversity, opportunity, and environmentally sustainable construction and development strengthened its candidacy for the Kresge grant.

"A challenge grant from the Kresge Foundation is an endorsement of Adelphi's vision and mission and its success in fulfilling both," said Adelphi University President Robert A. Scott. "We are grateful for this rare opportunity and see it as an incentive for increasing alumni and community support for Adelphi's needed new facilities."

Adelphi's new recreation and sports complex will enhance Adelphi's academic, athletic, and recreational pro-grams. The complex will encompass a complete renovation of Adelphi's historic Woodruff Hall gymnasium, which will be adapted for thriving academic programs in health studies, physical education, and human performance science, and will include approximately 76,000 square feet of new construction to house growing and increasingly successful athletic and recreation programs and host NCAA championship games and community events. Adelphi's Stiles Field will be relocated next to the new center, and will be resurfaced, lighted, and redesigned to allow for underground parking.

Geothermal heating and cooling, energy efficient windows and lighting, and other environmentally friendly con-struction elements will enable Adelphi to qualify the building for a silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Launched in October 2007 with a goal of $56 million, The Campaign for Adelphi University seeks to raise funds for campus enhancements and increase endowment support for student scholarships and faculty support. Campaign commit-ments to date total $33.4 million, including ten generous gifts of $1 million or more. For more information about The Campaign for Adelphi Univer-sity and Adelphi's Kresge Foundation challenge grant, visit www.adelphi.edu/campaign.

About the Kresge Foundation: The Kresge Foundation is a private, national foundation established in 1924 by Sebastian S. Kresge to promote human progress. In 2006 it awarded approximately $150 million in grants to nonprofit organizations in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and Mexico and had year-end assets of $3.3 billion. The foundation is headquartered in Michigan.