A $21 million gift from the Curtis Foundation to UNC includes the largest ever contribution to the university’s School of Media and Journalism.

From the gift, $8 million will go to the construction of the Curtis Media Center, a “flexible,” learning space that emphasizes collaboration between students and staff while making available the latest technology, according to a release from the university.

The building plans are yet to be approved by the UNC – Chapel Hill Board of Trustees, and the site has yet to be finalized, but a UNC press release estimated the project will be completed in the next four years.

Don Curtis is a UNC alumnus and chairman and CEO of the Curtis Media Group, which operates over 30 FM and AM band radio stations in North Carolina.

The gift will also provide $2 million for the Don and Barbara Curtis Excellence Fund for Extracurricular Activities, which supports media and journalism students seeking learning experiences outside of the classroom. In the 2017-18 academic year, 43 students used the fund, according to university officials.

Additionally, the School of Medicine and Athletics Department will receive $3 million each from the overall gift and more than $5 million is being given to the university for “future endeavors to be determined at a later time.”

This gift supports UNC’s For All Kind: the Campaign for Carolina fundraising campaign. In 2017, Carolina announced its goal to raise $4.25 billion by 2023. This year saw a record breaking year in commitments, with 617 million dollars raised.

Photo By Jeyhoun Allebaugh/UNC-Chapel Hill

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