Sweet Suites: Alumni Group Leaves Legacy Through Groundbreaking Project
Converting the Historic President's House into the new Alumni & Family Center will make a bold statement that this college belongs to its alumni and their families—that every Dickinsonian is a Dickinsonian for life.
Dickinsonians sponsor section of John M. Paz '78 Alumni & Family Center
by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson
Longtime Dickinson friends are seizing a unique opportunity to join together to make a lasting and meaningful mark on the college’s history. They are the first alumni group to sponsor a suite in the state-of-the-art John M. Paz '78 Alumni & Family Center, a hub that stands to revolutionize and enrich the ways that generations of alumni, students, faculty, Dickinson leaders and friends of the college come together on campus to learn and connect.
“Dickinson had a profound impact on all of our lives, and we want to pay it forward,” says Doug Pauls ’80, a founding member of the sponsoring group, the Pugs Foundation. “It has been a wonderful experience to watch this effort grow to a meaningful level.”
The Pugs Foundation was formed in memory of Gary “Pugs” Knechtel ’80, a former Dickinson student-athlete. Members raise funds for a scholarship in Knechtel’s honor and also have supported athletics-focused projects, including the Durden Athletic Training Center football locker room, Kline basketball locker room refurbishment and the recent renovations to establish a new Dickinson Park Athletics Center. The group’s primary fundraiser is a golf outing during the Friday of Alumni Weekend (all interested Dickinsonians are invited to take part).
During the past two years, Pugs Foundation members have gathered at the Historic President’s House on the evening before the annual golf outing. A home to Dickinson presidents since 1889, the High Street residence was in need of extensive repair in 2018 when the college purchased a more energy efficient and newer home in 2018 to house its presidents. For several years, it was vacant, and the college’s board of trustees were eager to find an optimal use for the historic structure and restore it.
Pugs Foundation members and their significant others gather during Alumni Weekend 2022. Photo by Dan Loh.
When the college floated the idea to transform the former residence into a center for all alumni and their families that would be fully funded by donations, several trustees, including Pauls, the board’s chair, stepped up as early contributors. As the college broke ground last fall for the ambitious renovations, under leadership of John E. Jones III ’77, P’11, friends in the Pugs Foundation banded together in service of the cause.
“The friendships that we made during our college days are still very strong,” says Pete Dooner ’80, a Pugs Foundation co-founder, along with Pauls, Dennis Crawford ’80 and Brian Starkman '81. “I know how grateful I am for these friendships, and I also know that many of those in our group feel the same.”
The group met last June to view renovation floor plans and discuss opportunities with the advancement office. A few phone calls later, they’d raised two-thirds of the $250,000 renovation cost, and by summer’s end, they had reached their goal. “There are still plenty of opportunities for people to come together and become part of this historic project for the college by sponsoring a space within the building,” says Carlo Robustelli, vice president for college advancement, noting that another Dickinson group is working with the college to do just that. “It’s an exciting time at the college.”
For more information about naming opportunities and sponsorships at the John M. Paz '78 Alumni & Family Center, please contact Carlo Robustelli at robustec@dickinson.edu or 717-245-1058.
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Published April 11, 2023