Celebration of Philanthropy brings name change, recognition

SarahBeth Davis

As part of National Philanthropy Day, the Celebration of Philanthropy was held in Augenstein Alumni Center yesterday at 5 p.m.

The event held three important announcements from Tim Caboni. One of these announcements was the renaming of the Division of Development and Alumni Relations to the Division of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement.

The change is to “more clearly define our mission to be donor-centered and foster lifelong engagement with WKU,” according to an email sent out by the division. The rebranding was noted by red towels with the new name being handed out to those present at the event.

In the second announcement, Caboni recognized Laura Turner Dugas as the Philanthropist of the Year. She has served as the head of the Laura Turner Dugas Fund since its beginning. Her foundation has invested more than $2 million into WKU scholarships, along with a large amount of other service done throughout her local community.

The final part of the evening was celebrating George and Cynthia “CJ” Nichols’ monetary gift towards WKU diversity initiatives, specifically the Intercultural Student Engagement Center Academy. ISEC assists with the recruitment, retention and graduation of underrepresented and minority groups on campus.

“This gift is key to our student success. This gift will also assist students in becoming Western Kentucky University alum, and graduates and givers,” Martha Sales, executive director of ISEC, said.

Sales presented Nichols with a token of appreciation: a framed image of the first ISEC Academy graduating class.

{{tncms-inline account=”WKU Herald” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ISEC Executive Director Martha Sales presents philanthropist Cynthia Nichols with a token of appreciation for her gift supporting diversity initiatives. <a href="https://t.co/aOQYje4USi">pic.twitter.com/aOQYje4USi</a></p>— WKU Herald (@wkuherald) <a href="https://twitter.com/wkuherald/status/930933135252090881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2017</a></blockquote>” id=”https://twitter.com/wkuherald/status/930933135252090881″ type=”twitter”}}

The philanthropy celebration concluded with a reception with light food and beverages in the same hall.

Reporter SarahBeth Davis can be reached at [email protected].