College to Get $200 Million Gift

CLAREMONT — An alumnus of Claremont McKenna College announced Thursday that he is donating $200 million to establish a master’s degree program in finance and to fund scholarships for undergraduates with leadership potential.

The gift from Robert Day, founder and chairman of the Trust Co. of the West, was described as the single-largest donation to an American liberal arts college.

“This is an incredible gift,” campus President Pamela Gann said. “Many great institutions would rarely have the opportunity to have a gift like this, so we are strongly indebted to (Day). It is an extraordinary act of generosity.”

Forbes magazine recently estimated Day’s fortune at $1.6 billion and ranked him 297th in its listing of the 400 richest Americans.

His gift is unusual for its huge size in relation to the small college, which enrolls just 1,140 students and specializes in public policy and economics.

The gift will be used to create Claremont McKenna’s first graduate program, a one-year master’s for 50 students.

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