Butler County Community College is no stranger to substantial private gifts.
There have been several over the past few years. One was announced on Wednesday. Former State Senator Tim Shaffer donated $1 million to create the Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health and help build a new $10 million nursing center on campus.
Janice Phillips Larrick, of Butler Township, donated $1 million last year. That money will be combined with Shaffer’s gift to help build the new nursing center.
John L. Wise and family donated $1 million in September 2016, which was used it fund the $2.3 million Amy Wise Children’s Creative Learning Center. It opened in January.
Robert R. Heaton donated $1 million in July 2014. Heaton’s commitment was used to fund what became the $6.4 million Heaton Family Learning Commons, which opened in August 2016.
“We have had unmatched private giving and support,” BC3 President Dr. Nick Neupauer said Wednesday during a luncheon honoring Shaffer’s donation. “I would put that up against any nearby college or university.”
Neupauer said he believes the spate of donations to BC3 are both remarkable and reflect convictions that the institution excels in its mission as the community’s college.
“People claim this institution as their own,” he said. “I feel it. I sense it.”
The series of $1 million gifts to the BC3 Education Foundation are the largest in BC3’s 52-year history.
To read more about former State Sen. Shaffer’s $1 million donation that was announced Wednesday, click here.
