Kresge Foundation | Jessie Ball duPont Fund | Progress Energy Foundation | Rodgers Builders

A. Kresge News Release
The Kresge Foundation Helps Advance the Sciences at Meredith College

Meredith College, Raleigh, N.C. — Meredith College has received a $300,000 challenge grant from The Kresge Foundation, through the Foundation's Science Initiative, to support the purchase of cutting-edge scientific research equipment and to help create an endowment at the College to maintain and replace the equipment in the future.

"With this Kresge grant, Meredith's students will have experiences with scientific instrumentation and equipment that are generally not available to undergraduate students – it will set them apart from others in quality experiences," said Rosalind Reichard, Meredith vice president for academic affairs. "This recognition by Kresge of the quality of our institution should provide great momentum for our fund-raising efforts."

Of the $300,000 Kresge Science Initiative grant, $150,000 will help support the purchase of critically needed science equipment, including a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer (NMR), a gas chromatograph/ mass spectrometer (GC/MS), and a scanning electron microscope, which will be used in labs in the college's new 80,000 sq- ft. Science and Mathematics Building.

In order to receive the other half of the grant, $150,000, The Kresge Foundation has challenged Meredith to raise an additional $600,000 by April 1, 2004, from new private gifts and grants to help create a $750,000 endowment fund for scientific equipment. Overall, the Kresge Science Initiative at Meredith College will support Meredith in raising $1.2 million toward equipment and endowment needs in the sciences.

"The equipment funded through this challenge grant supports Meredith's new undergraduate research requirements for students with majors in the sciences," said Meredith College President Maureen Hartford. "With the opening of the college's new state-of-the-art Science and Mathematics Building, Meredith confirms its commitment to academic excellence in scientific studies."

Other colleges and universities that have received Kresge Science Initiative Grants since the program began in 1988 include Vanderbilt University, Cornell University, Purdue University, Columbia University, and Furman University.

The Kresge Foundation is an independent, private foundation created by the personal gifts of Sebastian S. Kresge. It is not affiliated with any corporation or organization. Grants are made toward projects involving construction or renovation of facilities and the purchase of major capital equipment or real estate. Grant recipients have raised initial funds toward their respective projects before requesting Foundation assistance. Grants are then made on a challenge basis, requiring the raising of the remaining funds, thereby insuring completion of the projects.

Chartered in 1891, Meredith College is a private, four-year, liberal arts college for women.

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B. The Jessie Ball duPont Fund
The duPont Fund, a generous supporter of Meredith College, funds many exciting initiatives at Meredith College, including the President's Discretionary Fund, the Honors Scholarship Program, and the Capstone program. The most recent, exciting grant provided by the duPont Fund is in support of Meredith's new General Education program and curriculum. The first revision in over 20 years, this new General Education curriculum has clear goals: To empower women for meaningful civic engagement in their communities and in the world. Its objectives are ambitious: Meredith students will learn to inquire critically, solve problems creatively, make decisions ethically and communicate effectively. Moreover, they will understand that they have a moral responsibility to do so. Students will also understand that global problems can and must be addressed in some way at the local level. Recognizing that knowledge is complex and ever changing, they will develop the skills and curiosity to be adaptable, lifelong learners.

Thank you to the Jessie Ball duPont Fund for its ongoing support of Meredith College and our students.

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C. Progress Energy and The Progress Energy Foundation
Meredith College has been very fortunate in that we share a commitment with Progress Energy to educate women, and we share a particular interest in nurturing young women's interest in science and math. But we also agree that our society is not enabling women to reach their full potential as students and citizens of the world. Our common vision involves educating women to excel in fields from which they have historically been excluded.

Progress Energy was the largest and most influential contributor to the recently awarded Kresge Challenge Grant received by Meredith. This grant was awarded for the purchase of equipment in the newly opened science and math facility, and for the ongoing maintenance, repair, and eventual replacement of additional necessary equipment. We also have Progress Energy to thank for the ongoing success of Math Week, which is in its sixth year. Each summer this camp draws twenty high school girls who are rising sophomores for a residential week of math activities. The goal of the program is three-fold: to create excitement in mathematics and related fields among young women, engage young women with female role models, and expose them to mathematics in areas that were previously unknown.

These are only examples of the kind of support Progress Energy has offered to Meredith that have not just made a difference, they have made all the difference.

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D. Rodgers Builders
Since the groundbreaking for Meredith's new science and mathematics facility on April 9, 2001, Rodgers Builders and Meredith College have worked side by side with a shared vision: preparing for prominent roles in the fields of science and math. We have counted on Rodgers Builders as a valued partner – and a powerful ally – preparing women for prominent roles in the fields of science and math. We share the belief that by educating women for over 100 years, we have shown that we can. The new Science and Math Center ensures that we will, and we hope our enthusiasm is contagious. This magnificent facility is distinctive in the Triangle, and it will have the unique mission of examining how we educate women in the fields of math and science, so that they may realize their highest career aspirations.

Thank you Rodgers Builders for sharing our dream and helping to make it a reality.

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