ASHLEIGH MATTERN
Editor-in-Chief

The University of Saskatchewan announced a $12 million donation from the Nasser family on Feb 26. Professor Emeritus Karim Nasser was on hand with his wife, Dora, five children and grandchildren to make the announcement.

The university was keeping the name of the donor and the amount donated under wraps until the announcement, only saying that it was the largest donation the U of S had ever received. At Friday’s announcement, Convocation Hall filled almost to the rafters with faculty, staff and students dying to hear how much would be donated to the U of S and who the mysterious donor was.

Also the largest donation in provincial history, the gift comes in the form of two pieces of real estate: the Vienna Building downtown, which houses the Edwards School of Business K. W. Nasser Centre, and the Idylwyld Apartments, which are three buildings on Idylwyld Drive. Together, the real estate is worth $18 million, but the U of S paid the family $6 million for the properties, resulting in the $12 million net worth of the gift.

The money will go toward several projects, including undergraduate needs-based student awards, the College of Engineering, and the Edwards School of Business downtown campus. They have also asked that the money be used toward the construction of a student amenities building as a part of the College Quarter student residence development and toward the construction of the Gordon Oakes-Red Bear Student Centre.

The student amenities building would be a place for students to gather and socialize in the College Quarter residences, potentially with space for computer, exercise and music rooms, classrooms or office space. The Gordon Oakes-Red Bear Student Centre is a planned Aboriginal student space and cultural centre, designed to support, attract and retain First Nations students at the U of S.

Christy Miller, associate director of development communications and donor relations, said that while she didn’t want to speculate on
the university’s behalf, she thinks the U of S will be more likely to keep the Vienna Building downtown.

“Because we’re in the downtown campus building, if we were going to look at selling one of the properties it would be the Idylwyld apartments,” she said. “The university did look at them as being potential residences but they are a bit farther away from the university.”

The university will either keep the buildings and continue to operate them, or sell the buildings at some point in the future. Either way, the university will respect the donor’s wishes for the programs they want the money to fund.

The Nasser family has donated to the university each year since 1967, granting over 300 student awards at a value of over $600,000.

Karim Nasser showed a great sense of humour during his speech, eliciting chuckles from the crowd on more than one occasion. He continuously took the attention away from himself, encouraging applause for the many other people involved in making the gift a possibility.

“We love to give to deserving and needy students and to students at large,” said Nasser. “We also love to give to students with leadership and innovative abilities. We hope all these students will uphold and continue the great traditions of our university, the traditions of helping and giving generously to our community and to the world at large.”

Born in Lebanon, Nasser earned his PhD at the U of S and worked in the department of physics and engineering as a professor of civil engineering for 33 years. But Karim isn’t the only person in his family with a connection to the U of S: his wife and all of his five children — John, Mona, Selma, Roseann and May — are U of S alumni.

In a speech about his dad and the donation, John pointed out the importance of the university in their lives stretches far beyond their immediate family: he also met his wife while studying here.

– –
photo: Robby Davis