By MICHAEL STRAND

Salina Journal

LINDSBORG -- After a chorus of "All Things Bright and Beautiful" in Presser Hall, a smiling Bethany College president announced three donations to the school Friday afternoon -- any one of which, by itself, would have been cause for celebration.

Since arriving as Bethany's new president this past August, Edward Leonard III said he's told people that "with God's grace, a good plan and hard work, there will be a Bethany renaissance."

He then described the three recent gifts to the college:

n A $1 million challenge gift to build a new Swedish chapel and welcome center that would house the admissions office.

n A $400,000 donation for music education scholarships.

n And a gift of about $488,000, which will bring the Messiah Festival's endowment to $1 million.

The three gifts, Leonard said, are "truly an exciting expression of faith in Bethany's future."

Leonard also said the three gifts -- especially the one challenging the school to raise $1 million on its own by June -- should be seen as a beginning.

"These only represent a start in making Bethany competitive," he said, explaining that the school will place a new emphasis on fundraising, including "a major gifts program that does not exist today."

The gifts announced Friday, he said, "will have a multiplier effect that will outlive what it's going to take to make it happen."

The school's fundraising focus in the past has been on annual donations rather than large, one-time donations, Leonard said.

Annual gifts generally are used for the school's regular operations, while larger gifts are for capital improvements, including the planned chapel and welcome center, or the college's ongoing "Campus Green" project to renovate much of the campus.

"Annual gifts are to live on, the major gifts are to grow by," he said.

He also stressed that the donations and projects announced Friday would not "alter, change or deter" the development plans already in place, including building a new apartment-style residence hall.

In love with Bethany

The $1 million donation is from Gerald "Bud" Pearson, a Swedish-American and longtime friend of the college who lives in Iowa. He founded Spencer Foods in 1952.

He served on Bethany's board from 1989 to 1993, and from 1994 to 2000, and in 1994 established the Pearson Distinguished Professor of Swedish Studies program. Each year it brings in a key figure in Swedish art, culture or scholarship to the school to strengthen Swedish culture here.

The chapel that is the centerpiece of his donation was part of a campus master plan that Pearson underwrote in the 1990s.

In a recent letter from Pearson that Leonard shared Friday, he stated he had "fallen in love" with Lindsborg and Bethany more than 20 years ago, and "there were bright times and dark times. I believe you are now in the brightest times I have seen and the best of all is on the way."

Money for music

The $400,000 music scholarship gift is from Ronald "Max" Green and Tulsa Lea Green. Max Green earned his bachelor's degree in music education from Bethany in 1958. The couple both worked in the Olathe School District for years and operated a music store in Olathe as well.

Leonard said the gift to the Messiah Festival will bring the event's endowment from $512,000 to $1 million.

The donors asked to remain anonymous, Leonard said, but he added it was from a couple who first met at the event in the 1950s.

n Reporter Mike Strand can be reached at 822-1418 or by e-mail at mstrand@salina.com.

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