UM Announces $7M in Gifts
The University of Montana Foundation proudly announced more than $7 million in gifts during its annual President’s Club Dinner on Oct. 3. Generous donors will help build more UM museum space, boost efforts to empower women, launch a remodel of a historic building and upgrade a mental health facility. These initiatives will support the tomorrow-proof education of UM students while building the University into a flagship for America’s future.
The gifts are part of Campaign Montana, a comprehensive, seven-year fundraising campaign that is inspiring $400 million in philanthropic giving to UM through 2020. Donors will help achieve UM’s vision of a university that puts student success at the forefront, driving excellence and innovation in teaching, research and learning. Visit www.campaignmontana.org to learn more.
Additionally, Eric Sprunk, an alumnus of the UM business college and chief operating officer for Nike Inc., was awarded the Bucklew Presidential Service Award for his extraordinary assistance to his alma mater.
Read on to learn more about these exciting developments for UM.
Payne Family Donates $5M for Montana Museum of Art and Culture
From historical treasures of Europe to dramatic art of the American West, the Permanent Collection of UM’s Montana Museum of Art and Culture represents the deepest holdings of art in the state and is among the oldest in the Northwest.
A new $5 million gift from the Terry and Patt Payne Family will enable MMAC to bring the collections into public view and engagement. A portion of this generous gift forms the lead investment to build a new home to manage and exhibit the collection.
The proposed Montana Heritage Pavilion will allow the museum to transfer thousands of compelling works of art from campus storage to display.
“We are enthusiastic to be a catalyst in bringing the art treasures of the University of Montana to the light of day so that they may be displayed for all to enjoy after such a long period of storage,” said Terry Payne.
The Payne Family gift launches efforts to inspire other philanthropic gifts to support construction of a proposed pavilion building. University officials will determine the campus location and design of the facility in the coming months.
“This addition to our campus will become an exciting destination in our community, state and region,” UM President Seth Bodnar said. “It will be a place of gathering, but more importantly, a manifestation of our enduring commitment to the arts and history.”
Among the works that will benefit from a new facility are the nine masterpieces that MMAC received in 2018 from the estate of Sen. William A. Clark. This collection includes a relief sculpture of the “Madonna with Child” attributed to Italian Renaissance sculptor Donatello.
Terry Payne is a 1963 UM graduate who received an honorary doctorate from the University in 2014. Together with his wife, Patt, Terry also has invested in the Payne Family Native American Center, that center’s Elouise Cobell Land and Culture Institute, and a number of student scholarships.
“The MMAC’s Permanent Collection holds thousands of works of art from many cultures across time, representing more than 2,000 years of human creativity,” said H. Rafael Chacón, the Suzanne and Bruce Crocker Director of MMAC. “What’s exciting about this particular moment is that, for the first time in close to 125 years, we are on the threshold of sharing that collection on a large scale.”
Read more about the Montana Heritage Pavilion.
$1.25M Eck Gift Funds SEA Change Initiative, Rankin Renovations
Longtime UM supporters Dennis and Gretchen Eck have pledged $1.25 million to support the S.E.A. Change Initiative for UM Students, a new program that prepares women across disciplines to become next-generation leaders whose contributions will influence broad societal change.
The Ecks already have gifted funds to support the program’s first year.
“This extraordinary gift from two of our most generous supporters recognizes UM’s legacy of strong, bold women and will allow us to honor that legacy as we invest in programs that make good on our promise to create a more equitable society,” said UM President Seth Bodnar.
UM launched its broader S.E.A. Change Initiative — which stands for “Safe. Empowered. Accelerated.” — in spring 2019 to amplify its efforts to foster a safe environment for women that uniquely empowers all women to reach their full potential and accelerate them into careers of impact.
The Eck gift makes possible the related S.E.A. Change Initiative for UM Students, a program that will provide women students on campus with mentorship, research, entrepreneurship and leadership opportunities and coursework. The initiative also provides cohorts of undergraduate women with preparation to become supervised mentors to middle school and high school girls and young women, encouraging them to see themselves as impactful leaders.
“We have local, national and global work yet to do to ensure that society more fully benefits from the contributions of women,” Dennis Eck said. “This is not just a women’s issue. This is a societal issue, and the S.E.A. Change Initiative for UM Students is our way of saying that UM will be leaders for creating culture change.”
A native of Wolf Point and the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Eck earned his degree at UM in history and political science. Gretchen was raised in Butte and also attended UM.
The gift from Dennis and Gretchen Eck will provide $750,000 over three years to support the initiative in a variety of ways, including the creation of new scholarships and internship opportunities. In addition, their gift includes $500,000 designated to seed renovation of Jeannette Rankin Hall, which will serve as the future home of the initiative, as well as other existing University programs.
Read more about the S.E.A. Change Initiative and Rankin renovation gifts.
Alumni Give $1M to Support Psychology Center Expansion, Mental Health Care
UM alumni Summerfield “Sam” and Julie Baldridge have donated $1 million to fund an expansion of UM’s Clinical Psychology Center. The enhanced space will allow UM practitioners to treat up to four times more clients, a boon for western Montana at a time when increased access to mental health services is sorely needed across the state.
The gift — which counts toward a challenge gift pledged by another donor for this project — jump-starts fundraising for a critical UM priority. When the challenge gift is met, UM will be more than halfway toward the estimated $5 million needed for the facility’s upgrades.
With private support, including the Baldridge gift, UM plans to renovate the first floor and add a second floor to the existing Clinical Psychology Center, built in 1984 and located on the south side of campus.
Once fully funded, the renovated center will have more treatment rooms with improved soundproofing and windows and will have new areas for assessment and research. The larger facility will allow faculty and staff to integrate students and providers from closely related areas such as social work, clinical neuropsychology and psychiatry to prepare UM students to be leaders in the interprofessional and integrated practice models of the future.
Sam, a 1978 graduate in history, and Julie, who earned a social work degree in 1979, have given back to UM in numerous ways. They currently serve as co-chairs of the College of Humanities and Sciences Campaign Montana steering committee, and Julie is a member of the UM Foundation board of trustees.
Their philanthropy to UM prior to this gift has supported the Department of Counseling, Irish Studies, the Neural Injury Center, the School of Art and Grizzly Athletics. The Baldridges were recipients of UM’s Community Service Award in 2017. The Whitefish residents serve in volunteer roles for a variety of community organizations in northwest Montana.
Read more about the expansion to UM’s Clinical Psychology Center.
