Board of Trustees discuss $10 million donation, process on new dining service contract

Central Michigan University President Bob Davies announced the university received its largest donation from a single donor at the Board of Trustees meeting Sept. 24.

Alumnus Robert Richmond donated nearly $10 million from his estate to CMU following his Oct. 16, 2019, death.

Richmond graduated from CMU with a degree in Business Administration and worked for IBM after graduation.

"This gift is the culmination of Mr. Richmond's life and work, and his generosity is an inspiring example of how the CMU community takes care of each other," Davies said. "He's trusting CMU to make the world a better place through education and innovation."

During the board meeting, Davies announced that Richmond's gift will be used to establish the President's Fund for University Excellence endowment.

"It does give me flexibility and as I think about the important charges of our university and to his words,"Davies said. "We are going to set up quasi-endowments, one is for $2 million to have scholarships available for what I call close the graduation gaps between student demographics."

Other "quasi-endowments" will support:

Undergraduate scholarships to be administered in conjunction with Multicultural Advancement and Lloyd M. Cofer Scholarships, which will help students persevere to graduation.
Staff and program initiatives to assist underserved populations through Multicultural Academic Student Services.
Creation of a "Finish Up Chips!" scholarship program to assist students who are within 25 credits of graduation and at risk of dropping out for financial reasons.
Scholarships for adult learners completing their degrees online or at one of CMU's many satellite locations.
Student service needs as they occur.
New lifelong learning programs, including certificates and badges.

In other board action items, trustees authorized Davies to sign a new dining services contract. The university has been working on an extensive Request for Proposal (RFP) process for over eight months.

"Aramark has had the food vending contract for over 23 years. I felt that it was important that we go through a bidding process," Davies said. "This is a normal course of business to ensure we have the right vendor and all of the competitive market places are are in that line."

A committee of multiple campus constituencies and students have been included in the process and were able to give their feedback, he said. The committee is in the process of selecting a vendor and should I have one selected within the next two months.

Much of the meeting was devoted to praising members of the university community for their work throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"Beginning early September, we have seen a sharp decline in the number of cases of COVID-19 within our campus community," Davies said. "I attribute this success to the sustained efforts of students, faculty and staff, as well as community members, to protect themselves and others by wearing masks, practicing social distancing and embracing the CDC best practices for health and safety."