McCombs family bequethes CSU a $15 million endowment
Cleveland State University President Laura Bloomberg, Ph.D., announced Wednesday a $15 million financial gift to CSU from the estate of Walter Lee McCombs and his wife Katherine. The endowment is the largest in the history of Cleveland State.
"We will officially accept and celebrate the largest philanthropic gift in the history of Cleveland State," President Bloomberg told the faculty senate, thanking the McCombs family for its generosity.
The university formally announced the gift Thursday at Radiance, CSU's annual donor event.
The CSU board of trustees had acknowledged the bequest in early 2024, and President Bloomberg noted in her State of the University address in 2024 that the McCombs family was working with CSU to bring the gift to the university.
"I use this time to mention an alumnus who, likely, most of us have not met and never will," the president said October 1. "Yet, we recently were made aware of how much CSU changed a life."
Just how much was not known to the CSU community until now.
McCombs graduated from the then Marshall College of Law in 1976 and went on to lead a successful career at Abbott Laboratories in Chicago. But he and his family never forgot his alma mater.
Bloomberg said the entirety of the endowment would go to supporting students, except for money that will be used to renovate the plaza between the Student Center and library. The space will be renamed McCombs Plaza in memory of Walter and Katherine.
CSU reaffirms its commitment to freedom of speech
Speaking earlier to the senate, President Bloomberg opened her final report to the faculty for the spring 2025 semester by thanking members of the senate and other attendees for their service throughout the academic year.
“I want to thank all the senators around the table," she said. "It's been quite a year. I don't think we're through the year yet, but I think we've been very productive."
Bloomberg went on to reaffirm the university’s stance on freedom of speech and discussed the role of universities in democracy and civil discourse. The discussion culminated in the senate voting to reaffirm the university’s 2019 free speech statement.
“(The statement) says what some of us believe to be true at this university. And it's perhaps, dare I say, what makes some of us scratch our head about parts of Senate Bill 1,” Bloomberg said. “The university has a solemn responsibility not only to promote a lively and fearless freedom of debate and deliberation, but also to protect that freedom when others attempt to restrict it.”
Other business discussed at the meeting included curriculum committee course reviews, budget and finance updates and findings from the National Survey of Student Engagement Findings .
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