Description
Jason LeGrand and Eric Burkholder are offering a
$10,000 challenge for support of Special Collections and Archives at Kent
Library for SEMO Giving Day 2024. New gifts will be matched 1:1, totaling $20,000 in potential
new funding, and will be unrestricted for the Director’s top priorities.
Jason is a Southeast graduate (Mass Communication) and serves as Senior
Director of Principal Gifts and Strategic Initiatives at the University of
California, Berkeley. He currently sits on the Southeast Missouri University
Foundation Board of Directors and the “Transforming Lives” Campaign Steering
Committee. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Kellerman Foundation
for Historic Preservation founded by emeriti professors Bert and Mary Ann
Kellerman. Eric is a graduate of Cornell and Caltech and is an Assistant
Professor of Physics at Auburn University.
Southeast has been a family tradition: Jason’s mother, Evelyn Harbison LeGrand,
attended Southeast, worked in Kent Library, and lived in Towers South shortly
after it opened. Her brother Gary and his wife Cathy also attended
Southeast. Jason’s father, Larry LeGrand, married to Brenda Scott
LeGrand, also attended Southeast, as did his two brothers, Bob and Bill.
And Jason’s godparents, Bob and Nan Beussink, attended the university and met
at the Newman Center.
“In addition to permanently housing things like more than 800 rare and unusual
books and regional collections, Special Collections and Archives is home to the
university's rich history from the last 150 years and will be home to memories
for the next 150,” said Barbara Glackin, Dean of Kent Library. The unit
welcomes donations of material related to all aspects of the university, and on
the history, culture, and folk life of the region. “We love receiving
material like photos, publications, and papers that document what campus life
has been like at the university over the decades, including in fraternities and
sororities, student government, athletics, and student groups.”
Why are donations necessary?
Kent Library will use these funds for many different projects including collection processing; digitization of donated materials; the purchase of archival supplies like acid-free boxes, folders and photo sleeves; adding opportunities for student assistants who want to work for the unit - or work more hours; supplies and upgrades to exhibit cases to better showcase Special Collections & Archives materials and collections; promotion of new collections; and special activities and events.