TACOMA, WASH. – The Ben B. Cheney Foundation has made a $200,000 grant toward the construction of a new Welcome Center at University of Puget Sound. The 13,565-square-foot center will be a visually inspiring space ideally suited to welcome the more than 5,000 visitors who come to campus each year as part of their college search.
“The experience students and their families have when they visit college campuses plays a critical role in the decision-making process. The new center will provide us with an opportunity to offer our visitors a warm, engaging, and informative introduction to the college and the transformational liberal arts education we offer,” President Isiaah Crawford said.
“We have outgrown our ability to host students and their families in our current location, and are grateful to the Cheney Foundation for its generous support of this project and continued investment in University of Puget Sound.”
Headquartered in Tacoma, the Cheney Foundation supports a wide range of activities in communities throughout Washington, Oregon, and California, where the Cheney Lumber Company operated.
“One of our values as a foundation is investing in facilities that will have a long-lasting impact on the community,” said foundation president and executive director Brad Cheney. “Puget Sound has a proven track record of leveraging its facilities and campus to develop just the sort of dynamic young leaders our community needs.”
The Cheney family and its foundation have been trusted friends and generous supporters of Puget Sound for more than 40 years, contributing to campus projects including the Athletics and Aquatics Center, Weyerhaeuser Hall, and the university’s science center, as well as supporting student scholarships. Brad Cheney ’82, a former student-athlete and baseball coach for the Loggers, currently serves as a member of the university’s board of trustees. His sister, Piper Cheney, vice president of the Cheney Foundation, graduated from Puget Sound in 1977.
Slated for completion in 2020, the Welcome Center will stand at the corner of N. Alder Street and N. 15th Street. In addition to serving as the informational and welcoming hub for campus visitors, the new center also will include space for campus gatherings and house the university’s Office of Admission. For more information and architectural renderings, visit the project website.