Butler University Trustee Rollie Dick and wife Cheri recently committed $1 million in support of the University’s $100 million Sciences Expansion and Renovation Project, which is currently underway and slated to be complete by spring 2023. In recognition of the gift, the auditorium in Gallahue Hall will be permanently named Rollie and Cheri Dick Auditorium. Gallahue Hall is due for a full renovation during the third and final phase of the project, and the updated auditorium will be used as a classroom for large lectures.

“One of the many great benefits of the Sciences Expansion and Renovation Project is the additional classroom space it is providing not only for our sciences programs but for the entire campus community,” says Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Brooke Barnett. “The Rollie and Cheri Dick Auditorium is one of the large lecture spaces on campus that will now be equipped for use by all academic disciplines after its renovation is complete. On behalf of the Butler faculty and students who will teach and learn in these spaces, I am grateful to Rollie and Cheri Dick for their visionary investment in the academic experience at Butler.”

Donors have so far contributed more than $37 million toward the University’s $42 million fundraising goal for the project. With just over two months remaining until the May 31, 2022 conclusion of the Butler Beyond campaign, the capital infrastructure project remains a top focus of the University’s fundraising efforts due to its campus-wide impact. Because all Butler students are required to take a science class with a lab element as part of the core curriculum, the renovated and updated spaces will be utilized by every current and future Butler student.

Phases I and II of the project included the construction of a new 44,000-square foot expansion building connecting Gallahue Hall to the Holcomb Building, as well as a renovation and repurposing of the Holcomb Building, which previously housed the Andre B. Lacy School of Business. Both phases were completed and opened in the fall of 2021. Phase III of the project is currently underway and entails the complete renovation of Gallahue Hall. Phase III is set to be completed by December with a full opening in January 2023.

“Butler’s newly enhanced Sciences Complex is an important development not only for the University but for the state of Indiana as Butler prepares its students for exciting careers in the state’s growing life sciences industry,” Rollie and Cheri Dick say. “We are proud to invest in this project and in the lives of the many Butler students who will learn in these facilities.”