Venture Forward Capital Campaign grows with $800,000 grant and match for the construction of the Goodrich Hall Tower breathing new life into the 1908 historic building.
Eugene, Ore. Feb 2, 2023 – Bushnell University is proud to announce that it has received a grant in the amount of $800,000 from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust for the construction of the Goodrich Hall Tower. The Tower will be a four-story building providing key improvements to the historic Goodrich Hall in order to serve the University’s growing student population. The grant was matched by a generous alumni donor family. With the addition of this $1.6 million to the capital campaign, Venture Forward surged past the $16 million mark. The campaign, with a goal of $18 million, includes two other building projects on campus, as well as the new baseball stadium at Hamlin Middle School in Springfield. It also funds three programmatic expansions, including the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing, which graduated its first cohort of nurses in December.
The Goodrich Hall Tower will provide an elevator and bathrooms on each level, as well as other modern improvements for the stone structure originally constructed in 1908. The interior of Goodrich Hall will be reconfigured to meet modern classroom demands and to provide offices for administration.
The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust is a philanthropic organization supporting community-focused organizations in the Pacific Northwest and beyond for over 45 years. The Trust has been a long-time supporter of Bushnell University, with a growing number of grants awarded in recent years.
“The construction of the Goodrich Hall Tower is a great example of capacity-building projects the Trust loves to support,” says Dana Miller, senior program director for grants, Murdock Trust. “By creating an accessible and updated facility, students, faculty, and administration will be able to move more safely into Bushnell University’s future as it grows its student body. The Trust is honored to support institutions like Bushnell that create an inclusive learning environment so all students have an opportunity to flourish and thrive.”
“Bushnell University is grateful for the Murdock Trust’s pivotal partnership. We look forward to the construction of the Goodrich Hall Tower in 2023,” says Bushnell President Dr. Joseph D. Womack. “The Tower will transform the space where Bushnell students have studied for over 117 years to make it usable and accessible for generations to come.”
About Bushnell University
Founded in 1895, Bushnell University helps students discover and answer God’s call on their lives. Devoted to offering a Christ-centered environment, Bushnell encourages students to grow in wisdom, informed by faith, leading to lives of service. Accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, the University was founded by pastor-educator Eugene C. Sanderson and pioneer businessman and church leader James A. Bushnell. Bushnell is the largest private university in Eugene’s vibrant university district. The University offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees for undergraduate and graduate studies through course formats on campus, online, and in the evening, as well as online programs for MBA, MA in Leadership, and M.Ed. More information about the University is available at www.bushnell.edu
About M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust
The Murdock Trust, created by the will of the late Melvin J. (Jack) Murdock, provides grants to organizations in five states of the Pacific Northwest—Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington—that seek to strengthen the region’s educational, spiritual, and cultural base in creative and sustainable ways. Since its inception in 1975, the Trust has awarded more than 8,300 grants totaling more than $1.3 billion. For more information, find the Murdock Trust on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and on our website.
Goodrich Tower Rendering