The reimagined Mendel Hall will provide an accessible, 欢迎, and exciting place for all students, where interdisciplinary teaching, 研究, and collaboration are celebrated, and future scientists are nurtured and supported.
President ReBecca Koenig Roloff ’76 announced today that alumna Katherine Buuck Fratzke ’17 她的父母， 罗伯特。 and Gail Buuck, have made a leadership-level commitment of $1 million toward the renovation and improvement of Mendel as part of 引领 & 影响: The Campaign for the Next Level of Excellence.
“We are so very grateful to Katie, 罗伯特。, and Gail for their generosity to our students,罗洛夫说. “This incredible gift for upgrading Mendel’s classrooms and equipment will have positive results for our BIPOC students and all Katies for many years to come.”
The gift is a major step forward toward the University’s goal to renovate and improve Mendel, the University’s science building, which opened in 1927. “Spacious and well-lighted, it seems the answer to a scientist’s prayer,” commented St. 凯特的 女校友新闻 in 1928. The building served Katies’ science education needs well throughout the last century. While selective modifications and renovations have been made over the years, many of the teaching and learning spaces do not meet the contemporary pedagogical needs of science education.
More than 2,100 students take classes in Mendel each year. In addition to majors and minors in biology, 化学, 和物理, Mendel serves a wide range of students from across the institution, including not only students in programs in the School of Humanities, 艺术, 与科学, but also programs in the School of Health. The reimagined Mendel Hall will provide an accessible, 欢迎, and exciting place for all students, where interdisciplinary teaching, 研究, and collaboration are celebrated, and future scientists are nurtured and supported.
The need was highlighted during a 市政厅活动 this fall that explored the obstacles that women of color in STEM fields face. St. 凯特的 effort to develop more BIPOC women leaders in science is titled “Expanding HERizons.“市政厅, moderated by MPR’s Kerri Miller, was key in inspiring Fratzke and her parents to give their major support to this important campus priority.
“Expanding HERizons addresses directly an ongoing lapse in support for BIPOC women leaders in the sciences to have all the resources they need to succeed beyond the fantastic training they receive at St. 凯特的,” Fratzke said. “The challenges at the moment – climate change, 可持续性, advancing technology – require innovation from leaders of all backgrounds who understand the universal impact to truly move the needle. We are thrilled to be able to support this initiative and look forward to watching the tremendous work of these women and their lasting impacts on the field.”
St. Catherine University thanks Fratzke, the Buucks, and other donors willing to invest in improving St. 凯特的 science facilities for our future leaders.