A $30 million gift by Meg Whitman '77 toward the construction of the sixth residential college will allow the University to expand the undergraduate student body and institute a new four-year college program, the University announced yesterday.
The gift supports just less than one-third of the $90-100 million project to build a new college on the tennis courts behind Dillon Gym, President Tilghman said in an interview yesterday.
The donation is the largest gift by an alumna of the University and comes during Whitman's 25th reunion year.
"I had a great time as a Princeton undergraduate," Whitman said in a press release. "The University inspired me to think in ways that have guided me throughout my life. I'm pleased that I can help bring Princeton to more students and that my gift will benefit the University for generations to come."
Whitman is the president and chief executive officer of eBay Inc. and a University trustee.
"Meg has been a wonderful addition to the board and her enthusiasm for Princeton is evident from the nature of the gift," said Robert Rawson '66, president of the board of trustees.
Whitman is a member of the University's executive and finance committees and head of the Princeton Women in Leadership Initiative. Established to recognize the 25th graduation of women from the University, the initiative encourages alumnae to participate as philanthropists and volunteers.
"The gift is very unusual for someone who is as young as Meg," Tilghman said. "I think that she thought that this was the most important new initiative at the University."
Discussions about securing a naming gift for the college began last year during President Shapiro's tenure but became more specific in the fall under President Tilghman, Vice President and Secretary Thomas Wright '62 said.
Whitman has been a leader in annual giving, but became interested in expanding the scale of the gift as discussions about the new college progressed.
Tilghman and Whitman had a strong connection and that the "personal leadership" of Tilg-hman was influential, Wright said.
"There was a connection between the two," he said. "They hit it off personally, and both have a vision for Princeton."
In addition, he noted that the largest donation by an alumna coming during the first year of a women's presidency at the University was more than symbolism.
"This is the first very large gift by an alumna of the University and a gift of the product of her own success and business, not inherited or found," he said. "[Whitman] is pushing herself to do something that would represent a powerful endorsement of and for the Shirley Tilghman presidency."
Rawson echoed these sentiments, calling the donation an "obvious step" in getting the Tilghman administration off to a good start.
After nearly two years of discussion about the new college and how to accomodate the enrollment increase, the donation allows Princeton to carry out the expansion in accordance with the Wythes plan. Approved in April 2000, the plan calls for an additional 500 students, the first significant change in undergraduate enrollment since coeducation in 1969.
"This is a very important gift because Whitman College will be transformational," Wright said.
Whitman College will be the first residential college not to incorporate already existing dormitories.
"It is the key to the program of pairing three two-year colleges with three four-year colleges to provide a significantly different experience," Wright added.
The college will be completed in 2006 and will house approximately 500 students, Wright said. Beginning in 2006, the University will add 125 students to each incoming class, completing the Wythes plan in 2010.
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