News
Below are the news of recent donations being made to Gallaudet University.
For questions or concerns, please contact giving@gallaudet.edu and someone from Development Office will be in touch with you within 48 hours.
Announcements:
Gallaudet closes successful $31 million capital campaign
Generous donors helped Gallaudet meet the $31 million goal for the James Lee Sorenson Language and Communication Center (SLCC) and also to endow the I. King Jordan Chair in Leadership, the priorities for The Campaign for Gallaudet's Future.
"The Campaign's success at such an important time in the University's history strongly reflects the tremendous support and belief many people have for Gallaudet University and our students" President Davila said today. The Campaign for Gallaudet's Future kicked off in January 2004 to secure funding for the SLCC. When I. King Jordan, Gallaudet's eighth president, announced his retirement in 2006, the Board of Trustees expanded the campaign to include the establishment of the I. King Jordan Chair in Leadership.
Generous gifts from Sorenson Communications and the Sorenson Legacy Foundation resulted in naming the Language and Communication Center after nationally recognized business leader and entrepreneur James Lee Sorenson, chairman of Sorenson Development. Sorenson is noted for his help in developing several industry categories in today's business world, including digital compression software, mass-market videophones, and video relay service for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals.
The SLCC, which is expected to be completed in the fall of 2008, will create a visu-centric space for collaborative learning, teaching, and research at the University - an environment supported by and created from Gallaudet's commitment to American Sign Language (ASL) and visual learning. The center will also house the Science of Learning Center on Visual Language and Visual Learning (VL2), an initiative of a multi-million dollar grant Gallaudet received from the National Science Foundation (NSF). VL2, one of six NSF Science of Learning Centers, will bring together deaf and hearing researchers and educators from a variety of disciplines to explore how deaf people acquire visual language and learn to read.
The Center will also be the world's first model of a new concept, the visu-centric environment. The visu-centric concept goes beyond merely adapting a structure to meet the specific needs of deaf people to one that completely embodies "the deaf way of being," aesthetically as well as practically. For the first time in the University's history, deaf people, including a deaf architect, were charged with envisioning a space that clearly, unmistakably says: This is a place designed by and for deaf people. The exterior and interior designs will incorporate open spaces, natural lighting, and room layouts that are conducive to visual communication.
The Jordan Chair will honor Dr. Jordan's 19 years of service as president of Gallaudet. The Chair will recognize his role as the University's first deaf president, and his many notable accomplishments in creating social and educational change for deaf people around the world. The Jordan Chair will provide opportunities for seasoned scholars to create and share new knowledge in strategic areas vital to the lives of deaf people including international and domestic advocacy, organizational development, the study of literacy, and the study and application of psychology.
"These initiatives cement Gallaudet's place as the world leader in research and knowledge on deaf people and their language." said Dr. Davila. He added, "I want to take a moment to express special thanks to James Lee Sorenson and his family for making this Center a reality."
Gallaudet announces million-dollar donations at groundbreaking ceremony
Gallaudet announced two $1 million donations from Sorenson Legacy Foundation and Sorenson Communications Inc. at the April 4 groundbreaking for the James Lee Sorenson Language and Communication Center (SLCC). The SLCC, set to open in 2008, will create a visu-centric space for collaborative learning, teaching, and research in an environment supported by and created from Gallaudet's commitment to American Sign Language (ASL) and visual learning. The building will serve not only as a model for academic collaboration at Gallaudet but will also serve as an architectural exemplar for all future construction projects at the University.
Gallaudet launched the $28 million campaign to construct the language and communication center in January 2004. So far, the Sorenson Legacy Foundation has donated $4 million, and Sorenson Communication Inc. has given $3 million.
"The SLCC is very much a deaf and ASL-centered building which promotes collaborative efforts in teaching, learning, research and service and we are honored to have such important and generous benefactors as the Sorenson Legacy Foundation and Sorenson Communications," Gallaudet University President Dr. Robert Davila said. "The planning of the SLCC marks the first time in history where deaf people provided this level of in-depth input on the visual-centered nature of the building. All designs were developed with the understanding that ASL will be the primary face-to-face language used in the building."
The University plans to move several departments under one roof, with the goal of fostering coordinated efforts across academic disciplines. The SLCC will house the following departments:
• ASL and Deaf Studies
• Communication Studies
• Government and History
• Hearing, Speech, and Language Sciences
• Linguistics
• Sociology
In addition to these academic departments, the SLCC will also have a student media center, classrooms, collaboration rooms, video relay service booths, and house Gallaudet's Hearing and Speech Center. There are also plans underway to create a deaf history timeline in the building that will recognize and celebrate the richness of deaf culture and the community.
