Santa Clara University

Campaign News

Foundation pledges $5 million to SCU

$4 million designated for library, $1 million for community-based learning

The foundation of prominent late Los Angeles-area developer Bill Hannon will contribute $4 million to the University's new library project, and $1 million to SCU's Pedro Arrupe, S.J. Center for Community-Based Learning. This contribution from the Bill Hannon Foundation has pushed the total raised thus far in the Campaign for Santa Clara to $186.4 million.

The gift by the Bill Hannon Foundation will support the construction and technology for an "automated retrieval system" that is part of the new library project. While 40 percent of the library's collection will be accessible in the main building, the remainder will be stored in an adjoining space equipped with an automated retrieval system capable of delivering any stored volume in five minutes. SCU's new library will be one of only a few in the nation with this sophisticated system.

The portion of the foundation gift for community-based learning will help fund programs at the Arrupe Center, which annually places more than 1,400 SCU students in volunteer opportunities with community service programs and agencies.

The gift adds to the fund-raising drive for the new library kicked off two years ago when Lorry I. Lokey, founder and president of San Francisco-based Business Wire, pledged $15 million to replace the University's library with a technology-infused learning center.

The current focus of the Bill Hannon Foundation is on Catholic schools and colleges in California, with a potential future interest in other Catholic-sponsored organizations engaged in health and human services for disadvantaged populations. This focus is in keeping with the interests of Hannon, who during his lifetime was a leading real estate developer and philanthropist in Southern California.