$15 million gift to university from Katherine and Walter McCombs

CSU President Laura Bloomberg announced tonight in front of hundreds of university donors and supporters at Radiance, CSU’s annual donor event, that the university received its most significant gift ever from an individual donor.

The $15 million gift comes from Katherine and Walter McCombs.

Mr. McCombs graduated from the CSU College of Law in 1976, and during his collegiate career, CSU was the only school to offer him a scholarship.

His gift honors that university support.

A portion of the gift is allocated to the existing Walter Lee McCombs Endowed Scholarship Fund in the College of Law, providing scholarships for law students.

However, the bulk of the gift will establish the Katherine F. McCombs and Walter Lee McCombs Transformative Impact Fund, which will enable CSU to help students in need cover the costs of tuition, room and board, and more.

“What an extraordinary moment in Cleveland State’s history. We are so grateful for this historic gift,” President Bloomberg said.

“CSU made a lasting impact on the life of Walter McCombs, and thanks to his and his wife Katherine’s decision to pay it forward, many of our high-need students will have the resources they need to remain focused on their degree programs.  There’s no better way to honor the tremendous generosity of Walter and Katherine McCombs than to provide a transformational education to our students.”

CSU will renovate its outdoor plaza between the Student Center and Rhodes Tower and proudly name it the McCombs Family Plaza in recognition of the McCombs’s life-changing generosity.

A center of campus life, the plaza will stand as a lasting tribute to McCombs’s deep commitment to students and education and their enduring impact on the university community.