Chapman Receives Pledge of $5 Million

In what would be the university’s largest single donation, an anonymous patron has pledged $5 million to Chapman University’s efforts to raise money for a business school--provided the university can match the gift.

Chapman University President James L. Doti announced the prospective donation Thursday, vowing to meet the challenge.

The school began its fund-raising campaign in October, hoping to raise a total of $15 million, including about $11 million for the building and $4 million for endowed programs. If the school matches the pledge with new contributions, the $5-million gift would bring total contributions to $11 million, said university spokeswoman Cathi Douglas, positioning the school to surpass its goal by at least $1 million.

“This will make so many things possible,” Doti said of the gift. “When you receive a substantial gift like this, suddenly the possibilities become clear.”

The identity of the donor is a closely guarded secret known only by a few. Doti said the donor insisted on remaining anonymous for now so the focus would be on the new business school--not the giver.

“It’s weird isn’t it?” said Doti, joking that if he were the donor of such a gift he’d want the credit for it. “But when it’s a $5-million gift, that’s not someone I want to argue with.”

The money will go a long way toward Chapman University’s quiet transformation in recent years.

Not content to remain just a private liberal arts school, Chapman has been trying to make its mark with a law school that opened in September and plans for a Business and Information Technology Building that would open in fall 1997 with cutting-edge classes, Doti said.

Doti ticked off a list of other recent milestones: a football team, a physical therapy program, seven endowed chairs and five professorships.

Still, Doti said he wants to ensure the university never loses its small-town feel, with classes that rarely have more than 20 students. He said Chapman--which enrolled about 3,000 students in fall 1994--will one day be the smallest school in the country with a nationally-accredited business school.

“We’re going to be the little engine that could--and did,” said Doti, who has raised his profile recently, weighing in on regional issues such as the debate over an airport at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station and the county’s bankruptcy.

Doy Henley, an Orange County businessman and Republican activist who is vice chairman of the fund-raising campaign, said the pressure is on to match the donation.

Henley said the campaign would soon begin soliciting donors, encouraging people to make an immediate donation, provide a gift over a period of time or to remember the school in their estate.

“We’ve got a list of people with the capacity, the interest and the desire, and we’ll be letting them know we need them,” Henley said. “We’ve got a lot of impetus: $5 million dollars.”