Naming of auditorium honors Campaign chair’s family
The recently unveiled auditorium in Crispin Hall will serve as a large-scale active learning space and dynamic gathering place for campus and community events. The
new auditorium represents the first phase of a plan to completely renovate Crispin Hall, a building that most Illinois College students take classes in. Before the renovations this past summer, Crispin had not been updated since it was built in 1963.
The renovation of Crispin is a major initiative of Inspiring Achievement: The Campaign for Illinois College. Del and Lisa, who reside in Texas, have played a valuable role
in the success of the Campaign to date. They have led fundraising efforts, notably making a significant leadership gift toward the first phase of Crispin renovations. They are members of the Illinois College Varsity Club and lifetime members of the Illinois College Society. Del has served on the Illinois College Board of Trustees for over 15 years and serves as Campaign chair.
As a student, Del remembers taking classes in Crispin Hall. One of Del’s mentors was Fred Pilcher, a physics professor at IC for 35 years, whose passion for astronomy
was only rivaled by his passion for teaching. According to Del, “I became a physics major due, in large part, to Fred Pilcher. His classes were both challenging and engaging. I learned to plan and manage my workload through the classes I had with Mr. Pilcher. To this day, I use the skills I learned in his classes in my day-to-day work.”
The Dunhams established the Jack Mann and Fred Pilcher Physics and Mathematics Research Support Fund in October 2014 to support physics and math students
and faculty in conducting research, and they later established the Del ’72 and Lisa Dunham Family Endowed Scholarship. They hope that the renovation of Crispin will further inspire a love of learning in another generation of Illinois College students and provide faculty with the resources needed to create innovative academic programs.
“The renovation of Crispin is a cornerstone, not only to the Campaign, but also to the overall learning environment at Illinois College. To that end, my wife, Lisa, and I were highly motivated to make a lead gift to the renovation,” said Del.
Now that the renovation is complete, we are extremely happy with the capabilities of the new lecture hall, and view it as a notable addition to the IC learning environment. Lisa and I are proud to have been part of the renovation, and look forward to the many years it will provide a distinct service to Illinois College and its students.
