Less than a year ago, Kalamazoo’s Western Michigan University was grappling with a $76 million budget cut tied to falling enrollment and the COVID-19 pandemic.
But following a $550 million gift from anonymous donors announced Tuesday — the largest single donation in history to a U.S. public university — officials see a notably brighter, even transformative future.
“Thanks to the incredible generosity and foresight of these donors who have chosen this gift, we will be able to make a difference for students who are here today and the next 100 years,” WMU President Dr. Edward Montgomery said at an afternoon news conference.
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The donation, from unnamed “graduates of the university,” is to be split three ways: $300 million for Western Michigan’s Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine; $200 million for need-based student financial aid, faculty hiring and other…
