The University’s Women’s Center received a $3 million dollar donation last week — the largest donation in the Center’s history — from alumna Maxine Platzer Lynn.
Lynn graduated from the Education School in 1951, but also took classes in the College at a time when it did not admit female students. Sharon Davie, the director of the Women’s Center, said Lynn, as a woman at the school in the 1950s, was a pioneer.
“She was very brave to go up to those professors teaching all male students and make the case for taking the College courses she loved,” Davie said.
Davie said the donation will provide invaluable assistance to the Center’s programs. “All programs are going to be helped by this donation because most of the money we receive from the University funds the salaries at the Center,” she said.
Although the University supports the Center, it does not allocate any funding for various programs. “Our funds come from alumni, parents, students, faculty and individuals who think we’re doing a good job and may not necessarily have a direct connection to the University,” Davie said.
Programs that will benefit from the donation include Sexual and Domestic Violence Services, the counseling program and Body Positive, which supports those dealing with eating disorders and other body image issues.
The gift will also bolster the current intern program, which gives students the ability to develop hands-on leadership skills and work in the different programs at the Center.
“It’s like a dream come true,” Davie said.
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