1/23/2020 Gmail - statement regarding Kaiser Borsari Hall Erasmus Baxter statement regarding Kaiser Borsari Hall Paul Cocke To: Erasmus Baxter Cc: Mallory Biggar Tue, Jan 21, 2020 at 12:30 PM Hi Erasmus, Below is a statement from Stephanie Bowers, vice president for University Advancement and president and CEO of the Western Founda on. At the end of the statement are links to the university policy regarding the naming of buildings and the resolu on approved by Western’s Board of Trustees are their December mee ng. I sincerely hope that the Western Front will present this story in a balanced manner, placing in context the fact that the tax case was resolved more than 15 years ago and since then Fred Kaiser and Grace Borsari have made a significant difference in the lives of many Western students, including making the largest single private gi to benefit the university as well as support for many student scholarships, jobs for Western students, strong support for a new electrical engineering lab and a professorship. Here is the press release announcing the $10 million gi : https://westerntoday.wwu.edu/features/fred-kaiser-and-grace-borsari-make-largest-single-private-gift-towwu-for-building Thanks, Paul Statement by Stephanie Bowers: In response to your inquiry, please know that the WWU Founda on, on behalf of the university, deeply appreciates the support and generosity of Fred Kaiser and Grace Borsari. Their most recent $10 million gi toward the new building bearing their names will support the construc on of an advanced technology engineering and computer science building to house Western’s growing electrical engineering, computer science and energy science programs. This will directly support the growing demand by Western students to study engineering, computer science and energy science. Over the past two decades, Kaiser and Borsari have made many dona ons that have shaped the lives of students and the future of engineering educa on throughout the region. The Kaiser Borsari Educa onal Founda on has supported a number of Western scholarships – in athle cs, engineering, computer science and advanced materials science, with a par cular focus on women and students from diverse backgrounds – star ng in 1997. Prior to their $10 million commitment, their cumula ve financial support of https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=9ae2ec5cf4&view=pt&search=all&permmsgid=msg-f%3A1656371187613443676&simpl=msg-f%3A165637118761… 1/6 1/23/2020 Gmail - statement regarding Kaiser Borsari Hall Western previously was at more than $2 million, including a $1 million gi to support the Alpha Technologies Electrical Engineering Lab in Western’s Ins tute for Energy Studies and a professorship in the College of Business and Economics. In addi on they have hired a number of Western students at their business. And their support for higher educa on is not limited to Western. In 2002, Fred Kaiser donated $4 million to help finance an electrical and computer engineering building that bears his name at the University of Bri sh Columbia in Vancouver, BC. Kaiser also served on the UBC engineering advisory council for several years. In 2016, Kaiser also provided $1 million to establish the Fred Kaiser Professorship in Power Conversion and Sustainability at UBC to expand research and educa on programs in power conversion and renewable energy genera on. Also in 2016, the Kaiser Founda on for Higher Educa on Graduate Scholarships were established at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC with the inten on of recognizing graduate students in the applied sciences whose research involves the study of modern digitally-controlled power electronics. In addi on, a laboratory at Simon Fraser University's Surrey campus, designed to teach engineering students about sustainability and power genera on, was set up in 2015 with help from the Kaiser Founda on. The tax case to which you refer was se led and put to rest more than 15 years ago. Since that me, Kaiser and Borsari have con nued to grow and manage successful global businesses, including the sale of Alpha Technologies to EnerSys in 2018. Kaiser and Borsari were recognized with the Western Washington University President’s Award, the university’s highest community honor, in 2013 for their generosity and service to Western. In addi on, Grace Borsari was named Business Person of the Year by the Whatcom Business Alliance in 2019 and Fred Kaiser is a member of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The WWU Founda on secured the $10 million commitment, on behalf of the university, and the actual approval of naming the building a er them was done by Western’s Board of Trustees at their December mee ng. The Founda on and trustees both were aware of the old tax case and felt it was many years in the past and that Kaiser and Borsari’s outstanding support and service to Western deserved special recogni on with the naming of the building a er them. Here is the resolu on approved by the trustees on Dec.12 : https://trustees.wwu.edu/files/Resolution%20201905%20Naming%20Resolution%20Kaiser%20Borsari%20Hall.pdf Here is the relevant university policy on naming campus buildings: https://policy.wwu.edu/POL-U6000.02Naming-University-Buildings-Large-Open-Spaces-and-All-Other-University-Facilities.pdf Paul Cocke  He/Him/His Director  University Communications Western Washington University 516 High Street, Bellingham WA 98225 Paul.Cocke@wwu.edu   360-650-3350  360-303-6009 From: Erasmus Baxter Sent: Friday, January 17, 2020 2:22 PM To: Paul Cocke Cc: Manca Valum Subject: Re: Media Inquiry: Kaiser Borsari Hall https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=9ae2ec5cf4&view=pt&search=all&permmsgid=msg-f%3A1656371187613443676&simpl=msg-f%3A165637118761… 2/6