Scott A. McGregor Computer Science Center Naming Opportunities

The Scott A. McGregor Computer Science Center will provide a much-needed new home for the rapidly growing Department of Computer Science and will house a permanent makerspace, open to all students at Harvey Mudd and across The Claremont Colleges.

Motivation and Purpose

The physical plant of Harvey Mudd College has changed over the years, but it has always hewed to a central theme—buildings facing inward to promote the unique culture of collaboration and strong relationships among students, faculty and staff of the College. While historically this approach has served the College well, today we have a unique opportunity to create a bridge connecting HMC to the other Claremont colleges and the community.

As we envisioned the design of Harvey Mudd College’s newest academic building, we worked with the architects to design an outward-facing building. This design creates a welcoming gateway through which faculty and students from across The Claremont Colleges can pass to further accelerate the exchange of talent, creativity and resources that exist among our sister colleges, while also meeting a significant need within the Harvey Mudd College community.

Anticipated Costs and Fundraising Goal

The College initially received a $1 million gift to help complete the initial planning phase, including conceptual design. Through this process, the total cost of the building was determined to be $30 million, of which $17.2 million needed to be raised in gifts and pledges (including the planning grant) before the board of trustees could approve the project to move forward. The remaining amount, if additional gift dollars are not secured beyond the $17.2 million goal, will come from debt financing included in the long-term operating budget forecast.

In April 2019, HMC received a $5 million challenge gift from a family foundation, which provided momentum to initiate a focused fundraising effort to secure the remainder of the $17.2 million goal. Due to the incredible generosity of many members of our board and other foundations, alumni and parents, HMC surpassed that goal in just over three months. One particular gift from HMC Trustee Laurie J. Girand and her husband, Scott A. McGregor, created an opportunity to formally name this new academic building (previously referred to as “AB1”) the “Scott A. McGregor Computer Science Center.”

There are still many meaningful opportunities to invest in this exciting project, including support toward: spaces on each floor, equipment in the makerspace and student proctor positions. Naming opportunities are still available in each of these critical areas.