Otterbein exceeded its annual fund goal for the year after receiving a gift from the Austin E. Knowlton Foundation in June.
The $1.5 million donation from the Austin E. Knowlton Foundation went to the university’s equine center and secured its naming rights.
As a result, the center will be renamed the Austin E. Knowlton Center for Equine Studies.
Heidi Tracy, the vice president for institutional advancement, said that this increase in donation numbers could be attributed to just getting the information out there. She also said donations increased by 4 percent in the past three years.
The equine center opened in 2009 and was built for $5.2 million. It is currently home to 42 horses and provides riding and academic opportunities for approximately 70 students.
The center includes indoor and outdoor riding rings, as well as a cross-country schooling field and multiple pastures and paddocks for horses. The facility also hosts several shows and clinics during the year.
Kari Briggs, assistant director of equine studies, said the most noticeable change due to the donation will be the renaming of the center, as the donation will primarily help the center con-
tinue to do what it is already doing.
“(The donation) is going to allow us to facilitate what we have already established,” she said. “We aren’t going to see any drastic changes, but we will continue to serve the community and the college itself.”
Briggs also said that she thinks the naming gift will breathe new life into the facili-ty and will help to promote the program.
“I think what’s changing with this donation is that we’ll be able to move forward in becoming the premiere equestrian facility that we are striving to be,” she said.
One of the reasons why Otterbein was chosen for the donation was because of its reputation. Charles Lindberg, a Board of Trustees member for the Knowlton Foundation, said, “Otterbein is a fine college and we have a lot of respect for Otterbein.”
The donation was given on behalf of Austin E. Knowlton, who, before his death in 2003, raised American Saddlebreds at Emerald Farms, located 11 miles north of Otterbein’s equine center.
Knowlton was also heavily involved in higher education, as his company facilitated the development of more than 160 college and university buildings throughout Ohio.
A dedication ceremony will take place at the center during Otterbein’s Homecoming celebration at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 22.
An equestrian demonstration that includes members of Otterbein’s equestrian team will also take place, and tours of the center will be given.
Lindsey Swimm, a freshman from New Albany involved in the equine program, said, “I feel honored to go to a school that gets such gracious donations … It’s great that everyone comes together and there is an Otterbein family.”
