ANN ARBOR, Mich. ― A $3 million gift will help fund a new building at the University of Michigan’s main campus that will house the William Monroe Trotter Multicultural Center.
The funding from Mark Bernstein, a member of the Board of Regents, and his wife, Rachel Bendit, was announced at a board meeting Thursday.
The regents have approved naming the new building Bernstein-Bendit Hall. Groundbreaking for the building will be held in the fall.
“Rachel and I are honored to support the legacy of all who have advanced the enriching and empowering mission of Trotter since its founding ― the generations of U-M students who have been activists for diversity, and the current U-M students whose advocacy helped guide the vision for this new building,” Bernstein said in a statement. “Their movement inspires our gift.”
The new facility was approved by the regents at their December meeting. The Trotter Center ― named after William Monroe Trotter, who founded and edited a Boston newspaper, The Guardian, which was dedicated to the struggle for equal rights for Blacks – is currently off campus.
The Trotter Multicultural Center was created in 1971 as a place where all students can develop a better understanding and appreciation for the school’s multicultural diversity, according to the university.
