RACHEL STOFFEL | STAFF REPORTER | rstoffel@butler.edu
RACHEL ANDERLE | STAFF REPORTER | randerle@butler.edu
The Andre B. Lacy School of Business is no stranger to donations. It received its name from a $25 million donation this past April.
“Donations typically are not this large, [and] any school donations like this are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Dean Stephen Standifird said.
Though he did not attend Butler, Lacy worked with students from the university in the classroom. The experiences he had with the students in the program led him to make the donation.
A new building is in the works for Lacy. Since the business college has gone from around 600 students to more than 1,000 in the past five years and is still growing, they have outgrown their current building.
The new building will cost around $50 million and give the students more space to continue to grow and innovate.
Since the donation was made, Butler’s College of Business was renamed, and Lacy serves as senior advisor to the college.
Standifird works first hand with Andre Lacy and said he is impressed with his work.
“He’s unbelievable,” Standifird said. “One of the sharpest business minds I’ve ever worked with, yet he’s also incredibly approachable.”
Students wondered where the money would end up.
Nick Huang, junior finance and marketing major, said he was excited when he first heard about the donation.
“Given the plans that are out of what to do with that money, it looks like there is a lot of potential for business to become an even more significant major on campus than it already is,” Huang said.
Out of all the changes that will happen from the donation, Huang said he is most excited for the new building. He said he thinks other students are looking forward to this improvement most as they “don’t see a need to improve the actual program itself because it’s so strong.”
Huang said he sees the new building plans as an answer to many business students’ concerns.
“[In Holcomb] there is no classroom space. All of my business classes are in either the Pharmacy Building or Jordan. We don’t have a building that houses that space, ” said Huang. “When we have meetings with our career mentors, we have to meet in the Holcomb lobby because there is no space.”
As a junior, Huang will graduate before any new structural changes will take place. However, he said he still sees a value in the donation for all business students.
“If you strengthen your program, then it is harder to get into the university,” Huang said.
“Admission levels drop, and the value of your degree goes up in the minds of employers.”
