Couple donates $5.9M to University of Saskatchewan
The University of Saskatchewan received another substantial donation from alumni Ron and Jane Graham on Thursday; $5.9 million to be split into different four different organizations.
Three million will be going towards Huskie Athletics; an even split between the men’s and women’s basketball teams, and the football team, while $1 million is earmarked for the College of Education, $1 million will go to the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO), and $900,000 is for the College of Engineering.
“It's enormous,” said university president Peter Stoicheff. “The Grahams are very visionary in their giving, they do a lot of research and homework beforehand to try to understand where their support can best be used.”
The university says the Grahams are the largest cumulative alumni donors in the university's history, previously making donations towards scholarships, facilities, and programming.
“There just always seems to be more needs, and more things we think that are important on the campus,” said Jane Graham.
For Huskie Athletics, the university says the funding will be used for innovative equipment and technology, coaching support, and exploring new travel opportunities for competition and skill development, as well as scholarships.
The donation to the College of Engineering will help to develop the RE-ENGINEERED program to help first-year students succeed.
“For me that was a huge home run,” said Ron Graham, a College of Engineering alumnus. “When I started we sat down for orientation and they said, 'Look to your left, look to your right. Two of the three of you will not graduate in engineering, you'll leave for some reason or another.'”
The university says the donation to VIDO will help it become Canada’s Centre for Pandemic Research, and funds for the College of Education will go towards the Jane and Ron Graham Centre for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
Video shows suspect setting Toronto-area barbershop on fire
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Boeing is on the verge of launching astronauts aboard new capsule, the newest entry to space travel
It’s the first flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule with a crew on board, a pair of NASA pilots who will check out the spacecraft during the test drive and a weeklong stay at the space station.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.