It's not every day the university receives a $25 million dollar contribution from a single benefactor.

At the Board of Trustee's meeting last Friday, William Schreyer and his wife Joan pledged the funds to their namesake honors college, making their overall contributions to the university total more than $58 million dollars.

Schreyer told the trustees that his highest expectations have been fulfilled, and this donation puts the college "in position to pull ahead of the pack in the country and the world."

The funds will provide student support and expand ongoing programs for university scholars and enable the honors college to continue to carve a name for itself in the competitive spectrum of higher education institutions. In 2005, Reader's Digest ranked the college among the "Top 100 Innovations," a list of the nation's "treasure trove of extraordinary people, places, innovations and adventures."

Schreyer's donation will bring prestige to the rest of the university.

The already renowned honors college will attract even better professors to Penn State, so they can share their expertise with all university students.

The gift also has important implications for philanthropy university-wide and the upcoming fundraising campaign announced at the Board of Trustees meeting.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2007, it will be student-focused, putting a strong emphasis on securing funds for need-based financial aid for undergraduate and graduate students and it will also feature the Schreyer Honors College. No specific dollar goal has been determined for this campaign, but the last fundraising effort, Campaign for Penn State, which ended in 1990, raised $352 million for the university.

Schreyer's exemplary donation will hopefully spur other alumni to give back to their alma mater.

Thank you, William and Joan Schreyer for your continued generosity toward Penn State.