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Donors Commit $1.5 Million to Build Home for KANU
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Hortense
"Tensie" Oldfather
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LAWRENCE - A longtime volunteer and philanthropist and a
Kansas family foundation have committed more than $1.5 million
to help build a new home for public radio station KANU at
the University of Kansas.
Lawrence resident Hortense "Tensie" Oldfather,
'64, gave more than $1 million in securities to the Kansas
University Endowment Association to help construction begin
in May. She is the wife of the late Charles "Charley"
Oldfather, Jr., a KU law professor who also served as University
counsel.
In addition, $500,000 has been pledged by the Sunderland
Foundation. Of the pledge, $100,000 has been provided by the
Ash Grove Charitable Fund at the Greater Kansas City Community
Foundation. A member of KANU's advisory board, James P. Sunderland
is trustee and president of the Sunderland Foundation and
retired chairman of Ash Grove Cement Company, a family-owned
company headquartered in Overland Park, Kan.
Both gifts count toward the $500 million goal of KU First:
Invest in Excellence, the largest fund-raising campaign in
KU history.
"KANU's current home has served us well in the past,
but it does not provide the environment necessary for the
station to grow or operate efficiently," said Chancellor
Robert E. Hemenway. "The university is grateful that
Tensie and the Sunderland Foundation have made this much-needed
facility a reality."
Gifts are still being accepted for the $2.2 million project,
which is expected to be completed by 2003.
The new three-story home for KANU will be connected to the
Baehr Audio-Reader Center on the northern edge of the campus
near Joseph R. Pearson Hall. A garage north of the Baehr Center
will be razed to make room for the new building. The 9,500-square-foot
facility will be about 4,500 square feet larger than KANU's
current home, which was built in 1941 as a temporary structure.
The new building will make it easier to share staff and resources
between KANU and Audio-Reader, a volunteer service that provides
audio versions of print materials such as books and newspapers
for the visually impaired. Currently the two organizations
are spread out in three buildings over a 1-mile distance.
KANU's transmitter carries the radio sub-frequency used by
Audio-Reader.
"This is a major step forward for KANU, just in time
for the station's 50th birthday this year," said Janet
Campbell, KANU general manager and director of Audio-Reader.
"We are thrilled to have such generous donors for the
project. Soon we will have the space and the combined resources
to provide expanded programs for our listeners across the
state, including more live performances."
Oldfather said she made her gift because she values the services
provided by both KANU and Audio-Reader.
"I listen to KANU and I'm aware of its close association
with the services provided by Audio-Reader," she said.
"The new building will bring KANU and Audio-Reader together
for a more efficient operation."
Oldfather, a 1941 University of Nebraska graduate, moved
to Lawrence with her husband in 1950 when he accepted a faculty
position in the School of Law. In addition to raising seven
children, she has been a volunteer for a variety of community
organizations, including the Bert Nash Mental Health Clinic,
the Red Cross, the Lawrence school system and Head Start.
For her community leadership, the University and the Alumni
Association will honor her May 17 as one of four alumni recipients
of the Distinguished Service Citation, KU's highest award
for service to humanity. The four also will march with the
graduates during Commencement May 19.
One of the other recipients, Kenton Keith, c'61, Washington,
D.C., is profiled in this issue of KU Connection; two more
winners, Richard Davis, c'53, m'54, Leawood, Kan., and Alan
Mulally, e'68, Mercer Island, Wash., will be profiled in the
June issue.
The Sunderland Foundation was founded in 1945 by Lester T.
Sunderland, who served as president of Ash Grove Cement for
three decades. The foundation, which has given for multiple
areas at KU, provides grants for buildings, capital projects,
higher education, youth services and museums, among many others.
KU Endowment is conducting KU First on behalf of KU through
2004 to raise funds for scholarships, fellowships, professorships,
capital projects and program support. KU Endowment is an independent,
non-profit organization serving as the official fund-raising
and fund-management organization for KU.
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