Wittenberg University announced Wednesday that it has received a $6 million gift. Wittenberg President Mark Erickson said it is the largest cash gift ever received from a living individual to the university. WYSO's Wayne Baker reports.
The money was given by Susan Hagen, a 1957 graduate of Wittenberg and for the past 40 years a noted Pennsylvania philanthropist, who received the 2010 Distinguished Citizen of the Commonwealth Award. Hagen is a long-time board member of the "Fortune 500" Erie Insurance Group, founded by her father, who was a 1911 Wittenberg graduate.
The endowed money will go to fund the Center for Civic & Urban Engagement, the recipient of the endowment gift, was created in 2008 to help students and community leaders work together to improve educational and business opportunities in Springfield.
Springfield Mayor Warren Copeland, who is the faculty director of the Center for Civic & Urban Engagement, told the university that the Center accepts the gift as a challenge to be a creative and constructive force in the Springfield community.