To: State Desk

Contact: Rachel Cartmell of Mount Holyoke, 413-538-2204 or cartmell@mtholyoke.edu

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass., Nov. 3 /U.S. Newswire/ -- As part of the kickoff festivities surrounding the announcement of Mount Holyoke's $300 million campaign, the Dorothy Rooke McCulloch and Norman E. McCulloch, Jr. Center for Global Initiatives was dedicated in a ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 28, at the college.

Dorothy (Dotty) Rooke McCulloch and Norman (Sandy) E. McCulloch, Jr., trustees of the McAdams Charitable Foundation, have long been supporters of Mount Holyoke and international learning. President Joanne V. Creighton paid tribute to Dotty and Sandy McCulloch whose "irrepressible spirit and vision and commitment to excellent liberal arts education are unshakable, indispensable and integral to the success of the college." Along with citing the numerous contributions already made by the McCullochs, including McCulloch Auditorium in Pratt Hall, the Alice W. Rooke Laboratory Theatre, two endowed chairs, a new shell for the crew team, and the McCulloch Scholars program for study abroad, Creighton hailed their "unwavering championing of international awareness as an important feature of liberal arts education" during the dedication ceremony in Hooker Auditorium. The event included a distinguished panel of speakers discussing "the Middle East as Global Challenge."

The Center for Global Initiatives, established in 2004, unites Mount Holyoke's international programs and advances students' understanding of global problems and solutions from cross- disciplinary, cross-cultural and cross-national perspectives. In her dedication remarks, Eva Paus, Carol Hoffman Collins Director of Center for Global Initiatives, praised the McCullochs for their unwavering support. "Their generous support makes it possible for us to push forward and advance education for global citizenship at this college."

Dotty is a 1950 graduate of Mount Holyoke and chairman of International House of Rhode Island, a service and hospitality center for international visitors. A Mount Holyoke College trustee from 1974 to 1984, Dotty McCulloch was also the chair of Mount Holyoke's $13 million campaign that ended in 1983. Along with her husband, she was honorary co-chair and a Steering Committee member of the college's most recent $257 million comprehensive campaign (1998 to 2003). Her husband, Sandy is retired chairman of Microfibres Inc., a textile business in Pawtucket, R.I. He is also president of the McAdams Charitable Foundation, a family foundation whose primary focus is on educational issues at the public, primary and secondary school levels.

Before joining her husband for a ribbon cutting, Dotty described the center as "a dream come true for Sandy and me." She described their hopes back in 1996 to fund an international center and the years of planning that brought it to fruition. "This center represents the college's willingness to commit to an ideal. Mount Holyoke has never been afraid of doing that."

Hundreds of alumni and supporters of the college were on campus Saturday celebrating the campaign kickoff. The campaign's top priority is support for the college's endowment -- now at more than $500 million -- to provide sustained support for faculty and student financial aid. Other priorities for the campaign include supporting the operating budget through gifts to the Annual Fund, and funding a number of projects including a new residence hall and three new athletic facilities: a boathouse, outdoor track and turf field. Leslie Anne Miller '73, chair of the board of trustees, and trustee Barbara McClearn Baumann '77 are cochairs of the five-year campaign.

At the official campaign announcement celebration dinner Saturday evening, President Creighton announced that more than $82 million had already been raised to jumpstart the campaign.

http://www.usnewswire.com/

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/© 2006 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/

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