Friends donate $10 million for Whitman dorm

The University is now $10 million closer to funding the construction of Whitman College thanks to a gift in that amount from four benefactors. The donation will finance the construction of the largest dormitory in the new residential college.

Of the projected $110 million that will be required to complete the project, the University has now raised $60 million, said Brian McDonald, vice president for development, in an email.

This donation will be made by University Charter Trustee Peter Wendell '72, his wife Lynn Mellen Wendell '77 — a classmate of Meg Whitman '77 — Scott Cook, who co-founded the software company Intuit — which makes the popular Quicken accounting program — and his wife Signe Ostby. The four have been longtime friends with one another and Whitman '77, who gave the initial $30 million donation for the college.

"It's just always a pleasure and a privilege to be involved with Princeton," Peter Wendell said. "We really look forward to seeing the project get built and come to life over the next couple of years."

At the request of the Wendells, Cook and Ostby, the dormitory will be named after Peter Wendell's late parents, Eugene and Virginia Wendell. According to Wendell, when he was a student at the University, his parents would come down to the campus from their northern New Jersey home frequently and always enjoyed their time here.

"I don't think there's anything [my parents] would like better than knowing that 125 people are living in their namesake building and enjoying the place," Peter Wendell said.

Wendell said he had been thinking about making this sort of gift for almost two years. When Whitman was considering making her initial donation, he indicated he would try to be supportive if she "got the ball rolling," he said.

However, that ball still has a long way to roll. According to Peter Wendell, the University is still actively seeking naming donations for the seven other dormitories in Whitman College.

The donations would need to be in the $2 to $10 million range and would be supplemented by smaller donations in the $200,000 to $1 million range. These would serve to name interior spaces, including seminar rooms, lounges and a theater. The University hopes to announce these donations over the next three years, McDonald said.

However, McDonald added, there has been an "incredible" amount of enthusiasm for the project, particularly among the University trustees.

"Peter Wendell and Meg Whitman, in addition to making their own very generous gifts, have given generously of their time and have been working very closely with me, President Tilghman and members of the Development Office to identify other donors for this very important project," he said.

"I'm just really glad some of the skills I acquired at Princeton a while ago allowed me to have enough success to do something like this," Peter Wendell said.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

All of the buildings in Whitman College will be designed by Demetri Porphyrios GS '80 in a classic, gothic style. When complete, Whitman will become the first operational four-year residential college, housing 500 students ranging from freshmen to graduate students.