Holton Memorial Quad Will Create More Campus Green Space

June 18, 2002

June 18, 2002, Greencastle, Ind. - The record $128 million gift of Philip and Ruth Holton to DePauw University was originally made anonymously, but DePauw's Board of Trustees is seeing that the Holtons get the recognition they deserve, with the creation of the new Holton Memorial Quad now being constructed within the academic quad. Work on the project will be completed by fall.

[DOWNLOAD VIDEO: "Saying Thanks" 954KB] "The Holtons made just a fantastic gift to the University for scholarships, and [they] really didn't ask for anything in return," says Richard Speller, vice president for finance and administration at DePauw. "As I understand it, they really wanted to be low profile on this, but yet the trustees wanted to do something that would memorialize [and] commemorate their gift."

The project will create a new outdoor classroom in the center entrance to Asbury Hall, and an outdoor patio area that will adjoin Roy O. West library, which was given a new facade last summer to match the Georgian architecture of nearby Asbury and Harrison Halls. [DOWNLOAD AUDIO: "More Greenspace" 186KB] "We end up with more greenspace [and] less concrete," according to Jim Katterjohn, coordinator of groundskeeping at DePauw. Moreover, the new landscaping will alleviate some of the design flaws in the quad. "The intent of this plan, number one, was to flatten out the quadrangle area and we're going to do that by raising the grade on both sides of the library so that it's basically flat throughout the site," Katterjohn adds.

Five diseased trees have been removed from the quad, and will be replaced by 14 new ones, including two male gingko trees, which will be planted on either side of the library's main entrance. Friends of DePauw fondly remember the female gingko tree that once stood by the library's door. Katterjohn stresses that the grave of Bishop Robert Richford Roberts (1778-1843), the first Methodist bishop west of the Alleghenies and the first resident Methodist bishop in Indiana, will not be moved or harmed in any way during the construction process.

Of the new Holton Quad, Speller says, "It will add some beauty to the campus, and will enhance what we've recently done to the library. It should be a really dramatic improvement to the campus, an enhancement that people will notice. We think it will be striking."

Ruth Clark and Philip Forbes Holton, both members of the Class of 1929, left DePauw University a gift of $128 million. Received in 1999, the gift marked the largest-ever received by a liberal arts college. The resulting Holton Memorial Fund provides scholarships to students of "high character and with academic and leadership potential," and makes it possible for deserving students to pursue a DePauw education.

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