Worcester Philanthropies Support ISC

The construction and renovation of the integrated science complex at Holy Cross, which will commence in April and is the largest building project ever to be tackled by the College, is exciting news for students and faculty on campus. The local community is energized as well. Three of the city’s largest and oldest philanthropic organizations; the Fuller Foundation, the Alden Trust, and the Stoddard Trust, gave voice to that excitement by committing more than $1.57 million in support of the project.

For more than two decades, Holy Cross has offered intensive science education programs for local teachers and students. This year’s “Hogwarts at Holy Cross” was the seventh time the College has hosted its hands-on science education series for local middle and high school students. Additionally, the College has research partnerships with a number of Worcester organizations and hosts lectures on topics like medicine and world health that are often open to the public.

It is this positive interplay between the community and the College that stimulates local philanthropies. Susan Woodbury, chair of the Alden Trust, explains that her organization is pleased with the College’s increasing commitment to the community at large. Woodbury says the trust is very impressed with Fr. McFarland’s leadership, by the leadership in the sciences, by the number of students who will be affected by the new facility, and by the College’s thoughtful and extensive planning for the complex.

Mark Fuller of the Fuller Foundation speaks passionately about Holy Cross and its importance to the local community. The College, he says, is a very significant employer in the city and a significant supplier of educated people who stay in the area and start families and support businesses. “You are here and we are here,” he says, so: “Once we were asked, we made it very clear that we would be honored to support Holy Cross, which is an extraordinary college,” Fuller says.

There was a time in the past, Fuller explains, when Holy Cross had a reputation for being an elitist institution that didn’t seem to want to reach out to the Worcester community, but “that’s all changed…the reality is that Holy Cross is doing great things in the city every day.”

“Holy Cross is an amazing college with an extraordinary student population,” Fuller continues. “We are truly happy to support this institution. This is what we do. We have the means to help, and Holy Cross is a vital part of our community.”

 

To read more about the project see: