wtnSTON-SALEM state university, north CAROLINA
VOL. 9
APRIL 1990
RJR Donates $4 Million To Centennial Campaign
Press Release
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco
Co., announced on March
6th, that it would contribute
$4 million to WSSU, to help
establish the university as a
regional center of higher
education and improve the
area’s economic develop
ment opportunities.
James W. Johnston,
RJR’s chairman and chief ex
ecutive officer, made the an
nouncement to more than
200 local business, civic and
academic leaders at a lunch
eon on the campus. He said
that RJR’s gift marked a
nearly 100-year relationship
that began with Dr. Simon
Green Atkins, founder of
Winston-Salem State Univer
sity, and Richard Joshua
Reynolds, the company’s
founder.
Reynolds Tobacco’s
contribution is the first ma
jor gift the University has re
ceived toward its new Cen
tennial Campaign to raise
$25 million in private dona
tions toward a $55 million to
tal goal. Funds will be used
to establish WSSU as a re
gional university by expand
ing campus facilities,
strengthening academic pro
Hl
i
James W. Johnston, presents plaque to Dr. Thompson. Photo By:Tuttle
gramming and faculty, and of
fering greater scholarship op
portunities.
The RJR grant will be
paid in four installments, the
last to be made in 1992. The
first installment of $500,000
has already been given to the
university to purchase imme
diately additional land around
the current campus for the ex
pansion outlined in the Centen
nial Campaign plan. Two and
a half million dollars will be
paid in three installment and the
fourth million is offered in the
form of a challenge grant to
match monies that the univer
sity will raise through this Cen
tennial Campaign.
“This $4 million you’ve
given Winston-Salem State
puts us well on our way to re
alizing a successful Centen
nial Campaign, and to realiz
ing oui full potential,” said
Cleon F. Thompson Jr., the
university’s chancellor.
In thanking Johnston,
Thompson said, “You and
your company have played a
vital role in the history and
development of this
institution...Your gift today is
by far the largest contribution
this institution has ever re
ceived. It’s also among the
largest corporate gifts ever
given to any pubUc college or
university.”
Noting that RJR’s gifts
have not been truly altruistic,
Johnston said that his com
pany employs 221 alumni of
Winston-Salem State Univer
sity and that the company
looks to the school for future
employees.
In 1983, a $1 million
gift helped build the
university’s RJR Center.
Sara Lee Corp. Donates $2.5 Million To WSSU
Press Release
Sara Lee Corporation an
nounced on March 20 that it
will contribute $2.5 million
to Winston-Salem State
University’s Centennial
Campaign.
The gift was announced by
the president of Sara Lee,
Paul Fulton Jr., at a morning
news conference at Benton Con
vention Center, where Fulton
later delivered a speech about
Winston-Salem State University
to members of the Downtown
Rotary Club.
Fulton, a university trustee since
1985, is honorary chairman of
the Centennial Campaign, which
seeks to raise $25 million in pri
vate donations toward a total
goal of $55 million. The funds
will be used to establish Win-
ston-Salem State University as
a regional university serving the
Western Piedmont.
“Sara Lee’s gift is another
demonstration of corporate sup
port for this university and what
it seeks to accomplish for the
good of this and neighboring
communities,” said Chancel
lor Cleon F. Thompson Jr.
“These donations will greatly
enhance our ability to attract
and retain both outstanding
faculty and students, as well
as improve our campus fa
cilities and strengthen our
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