Don Daseke'61 and his wife Barbara announce
their $20 million gift to the university. PHOTO COURTESY OF DEPAUW UNIVERSITY
Last night at a dinner paying tribute to President Casey’s departure, over $23 million was donated to the Campaign for DePauw. The money, which raises the campaign’s total to $286 million, came in the form of two donations.
The larger of the two amounts came from Don ’61 and Barbara Daseke who contributed $20 million to the DePauw Trust and other projects. The DePauw Trust provides need-based financial aid to students. The gift is tied with tied Tim ’58 and Sharon ’58 Ubben’s donation in 2013 as the largest single donation to the University.
“To give a gift like that is unbelievable,but then to say [the university] can designate the purpose is really rare,” said President-elect Mark McCoy. The other initiatives besides the DePauw Trust that will receive funding from the Daseke gift have not been decided.
Daseke who resides in Addison, Texas is chairman, president and CEO of Daseke Inc. The corporation is a major player in North American specialty trucking industry.
A $3.045 million gift in in the name of President Casey, was also announced at the dinner. The The sum was donated to The DePauw Trust by alumni and other donors. “It was great. It was terrific. You can’t say anything more than that,” said President Casey, who takes the reigns as Colgate University’s President on July 1.
The Campaign for DePauw has $14 million dollars till it meets its goal of $300 million.