By Reubin Turner
Assistant City Editor
Baylor annouced Tuesday that a naming gift of $1.5 million was donated by Paul and Carol McClinton of Waco for a 350-seat auditorium in the new Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation. According to a press release by the university, the auditorium will be utilized for classes that require tiered seating, student organizational meetings and a space to host special lectures and events.
The new building will be named the McClinton Family Auditorium, after the McClinton family.
“In our current building, we really don’t have the ability to host events with a large capacity, so the new auditorium is greatly needed,” said James West, professor of Economics for the Hankamer School of Business.
He said as a result other departments will be able to interact and invite each other to events they are hosting due to the added space.
In October, the Board of Regents approved construction on the business school and the $99 million project is set to be completed by July 2015, as previously reported by the Lariat.
Mr. McClinton, a Baylor alumnus, received his bachelor’s of business administration from the university in 1962 and went on to establish Automatic Chef, a business he started in the fall of 1960.
According to a press release, Mr. McClinton said it was Baylor that helped give him his start in business, after convincing them to give him the contract for on-campus vending machines, rather than a national company. At the time, he was still an undergraduate student.
“I feel very fortunate that I was able to go to Baylor and gain the skills and friendships that helped me become successful in several businesses, starting with the one that I began in college,” Mr. McClinton said in the press release.
“Baylor gave so much to me, and I am glad to give something back.”
Mr. McClinton is not the only alumnus who’s given to the university over the past semester.
Paul L. Foster, in the largest disclosed financial donation made in the history of Baylor, donated $35 million this past summer in June.
Round Rock sophomore Conner Womble said that alumni who donate to the University help set good examples for future alumni to follow.
“It’s a great for alumni to donate to Baylor, because their gifts serve more than one purpose,” Womble said.
“And even though we may not be able to donate gifts of that magnitude in the future, we still might feel led to give something, due to the great examples.”
