$3.6M Donation Made by Huntingdon Valley Resident

A Huntingdon Valley resident has made a significant donation as an alumna of her college.

Marguerite Lenfest has donated $3.6 million to Wilson College in an effort to help renovate the college’s John Stewart Memorial Library.

According to a report on Public Opinion Online, Wilson College accepted the donation as part of the $12 million fundraising effort to help restore the library that was built in 1923.

The college hopes to build the newer modern library with a learning commons that will be the “center of the academic community,” according to the report.

Before Lenfest’s donation, Wilson College had raised $2.4M for the project. Lenfest graduated from Wilson in 1955.

“I am excited about the transformation recently put in motion at Wilson College,” Lenfest said in an interview. “I am proud to be able to demonstrate my support and to help address the college's most urgent need—the renovation of the John Stewart Memorial Library into a learning commons for the 21st century. It is my hope that this gift shows the strength of my commitment to Wilson today and inspires others to support the library project, which is essential to the academic core of the college and of great importance to both current and prospective students.”