Orange City, Iowa — It’s the largest single gift in the college’s history. A couple has donated $6 million to Northwestern College in Orange City. The money is for the new science building being built on the Christian college’s campus.
Duane Beeson, Northwestern’s Director of Public Relations, tells us how college officials feel about the gift.
Construction on the $24.5 million building began about a year ago, and Beeson says things are on track for it to be open by the time students come to school in the fall.
He says while Van Persum Hall — the main classroom building at Northwestern — has had a “science wing” for many years, many disciplines held class in that space. He says the new science building will be only for science departments at this time.
In fact, Beeson says some entry-level general education science courses will continue to be taught in Van Persum Hall.
He says that the $6-million gift from Jack and Mary De Witt is one of several from the De Witt family. He says Jack’s father Marv gave the naming gift for the De Witt Music hall, which, along with Christ Chapel was built during the 1980’s during the Iowa Farm Crisis. He says Marv De Witt encouraged others to take a step of faith and donate, even during those tough times. Jack and Mary De Will also gave the lead gift for the De Witt Learning Commons, which was dedicated in 2013 at Northwestern.
