In July 2016, the college received a $5 million gift from a donor to establish scholarships for students to attend Carroll. With this donation, the donor provided Carroll with the single largest gift in the history of the college.
The primary purpose of the donation was to create an ongoing revenue stream in order to provide resources for student scholarships. In order to produce net revenue, two additional apartment-style residence halls were built on campus. The new construction is an extension of the existing apartment-style residence halls, St. Matthew Hall and St. Catherine of Siena Hall, which were completed in May of 2014. Identical to the existing buildings, the two new buildings will house 36 additional apartments.
The current apartments met an expressed need by students for on-campus apartment-style accommodations. The existing buildings are at full occupancy and student interest and demand necessitates additional apartment construction. Subsequently, all revenues realized from the rental of the two new apartment buildings will be directed toward student scholarships.
In November 2016, Carroll College hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking for the two new apartment-style residence buildings in honor of professors John Downs and Al Murray. In keeping with naming the apartments in honor of saints, the donor has requested the college name the buildings for the patron saints of John Downs and Al Murray who both had a profound effect on his life.
Words from the donor:
“When you talk about the Carroll family, for many faculty, staff, and students John Downs was the father of that family. His love for his work and his Carroll family was evident every single day. Although I was not lucky enough to have John as a professor, it speaks volumes that he still had an effect on me. John Downs took the time to care, to ask how we were doing and somehow find the time to stop and listen.
I can say from firsthand experience that John Downs made a lot of tough times for students a whole lot easier just by letting us know that someone really cared. No one ever doubted the sincerity of this man’s care and love for the students of this institution. He was also an incredible mentor for so many other faculty, and because of that, his legacy lives on.
When anyone asks me who was the most influential person in my life, I never hesitate. The answer has always been Al Murray. One of my greatest gifts was to have him assigned to me as an advisor my freshman year in college and that is what he became for my four years at Carroll, my advisor. Al Murray could turn a chalk board and a piece of chalk into a vehicle of understanding of math; his ability to make it all seem so clear was amazing. Many other alumni shared this experience—Al was the best teacher we all had and he loved to teach.”
On October 6, 2017, members of the Murray and Downs families were present for the blessing and dedication of the apartments. We are blessed at Carroll to have had the love and example of John and Al, and we are grateful to the generous support of the individual gift that has made this memorial to them possible.
