The campus that Gateway Community College is building in downtown New Haven is now a bit closer to reality thanks to Yale and the Yale-New Haven Hospital.
A press release announcing a kick-off event tonight for a Gateway capital campaign listed the University as a silent donor. Mary Cody, Gateway’s dean of development and community partnerships, said that since Yale’s donation is silent, the exact amount will remain undisclosed, but she added that silent phases of capital campaigns are typically done to secure large contributions.
The campaign, titled “Your College, Your Future,” aims to raise $6 million to provide state-of-the-art equipment and program-related materials for the new campus, according to the release. Cody said Gateway has spent the past two years soliciting silent donations, the sizes of which are kept private.
The news of a Yale contribution toward the new Gateway campus, to be located on Church Street between George Street and North Frontage Road, follows two other high-profile donations announced last week. On Oct. 20, Yale-New Haven Hospital and First Niagara Financial Group each announced donations of $500,000 to the Gateway Community College Foundation to help fund the new downtown campus. Gateway is moving to New Haven from a split campus, located on Long Wharf and in North Haven.
“This support is one more example of innovative partnerships that provide students with the job skills they need to succeed in and contribute to our region’s workforce,” Gateway president Dorsey Kendrick said in the press release.
The kick-off event, taking place at 45 Church St. this evening, signals the transition from the silent phase of the capital campaign to the public phase — where contribution amounts are not kept secret — and the Gateway Foundation will also use the event to thank silent donors. In addition, the foundation will acknowledge the $500,000 gifts from Yale-New Haven Hospital and First Niagara by naming two major areas of campus after the donors: the nursing suite and the campus library will be named after Yale-New Haven Hospital and First Niagara, respectively.
Yale-New Haven Hospital’s donation marks another step in a continued relationship between Gateway and the hospital, college spokeswoman Alison Skratt said. The hospital hired 14 of 24 Gateway graduates from the nursing program’s inaugural class in 2004 and has hired a total of 111 Gateway nurses.
“Yale-New Haven Hospital has been a proud supporter of Gateway Community College for nearly a decade,” said Marna Borgstrom, president and CEO of Yale-New Haven Hospital, in an Oct. 20 press release. “This additional commitment to Gateway’s capital campaign builds upon our partnership.”
First Niagara, a newcomer to New Haven, is taking its first steps towards new partnerships in the city. The financial group established a branch in the Elm City this spring when it acquired New Haven-based NewAlliance Bank over the objections of city and state officials who worried that the takeover would weaken city residents’ access to credit.
Gateway Community College serves more than 11,000 students each year from 24 towns and cities in the greater New Haven area. The new $198 million campus will offer 90 general purpose classrooms as well as meeting spaces, 22 computer labs, 12 science labs, a library and other facilities.