Lebanon Valley College receives $3.2M in gifts to enhance facilities on campus

Lebanon Valley College has received two donations totaling more than $3 million that will be used to enhance the Annville campus.

LVC president Dr. James M. MacLaren announced the contributions in a press release April 9. According to the release, the Shaw Family Foundation donated $2 million to create a campus Wellness Center, and the Bishop Foundation donated $1.2 million to upgrade the second floor of the Vernon and Doris Bishop Library.

Funds from the Shaw Family Foundation will enable LVC to build a 7,500-square-foot Campus Community Fitness and Wellness Center, the release said. The new space will include a fitness center and group fitness studio to meet the wellness needs of LVC students.

The gift will also expand and outfit the college’s Sports Medicine and Athletic Training Suite, doubling the space to help keep student-athletes performing at their best and enabling connections to the college’s Athletic Training and Physical Therapy graduate programs.

Lastly, the release said, the gift will provide new leading-edge equipment to outfit the Varsity Team Sport Performance Center.

“The Shaw gift will help us transform our Athletic Department and help revolutionize peak performance at the DIII level, elevating us beyond our competitors,” Patrick Ratke, LVC’s director of athletics, said in a statement. “It will also allow us to enhance the overall health and wellness of the LVC community, helping instill healthy habits that will last a lifetime.”

The Bishop Foundation gift will renovate the second floor of the library “to maximize student success, peer learning, and academic inquiry,” the release said. The $1.2 million donation follows two previous gifts from the foundation: $1.5 million in 2015 to renovate the first floor and $500,000 in 2019 to upgrade the Bishop Frock Conference Room.

The gifts were made possible through the generosity of Katherine J. Bishop, CEO, president, and chairperson of Lebanon Seaboard Corp. She has been a member of LVC’s board of trustees since 1988 and has served several terms as the board’s vice chair.

The library improvements are already underway and will double seating capacity, increase and improve study spaces, enhance sound-dampening measures to emphasize quiet study, improve lighting, and provide better access to power and electronics charging, the release said.

“Kathy has long been among the most ardent supporters of our students,” said LVC provost Dr. Michelle Maldonado. “Her unwavering commitment to student success is reflected in her steadfast support of global education and her vision for creating inspiring spaces where students can learn, collaborate, and thrive. Through her remarkable generosity, she is expanding students’ access to a global education and transforming the academic heart of our campus, Bishop Library.”

Kathy Bishop previously established the Katherine J. Bishop Fund for Global Study through a $5 million gift in 2022. This fund has increased global exposure for LVC students by providing grants to students, especially those from higher-need families, to help mitigate travel costs and other barriers to studying abroad, among other benefits.