Kicking off a year of celebration, Carl Sandburg College will dedicate their college of nursing building after the late Galesburg business pioneer Ann Asplund.
Asplund passed away in February and gave $2.5 million to the Carl Sandburg College Foundation, a non-profit that supports the school.
That was the largest cash gift Sandburg had ever received.
On Saturday September 24 at 2 p.m. there will be a formal dedication, renaming the nursing building the Ann Rhykerd-Asplund College of Nursing Building.
CSC President Lori Sundberg tells WGIL the dedication is a fitting tribute to a woman who while she was living, funded a Sandburg nursing scholarship.
“She was a pretty amazing woman and just gave back a whole lot during her career and obviously she gave back even after her career was ended,” Sundberg says.
The day of the dedication is a special one in the history of Carl Sandburg College, according to Director of Advancement Robin DeMott.
“That’s the day that the vote was out for folks to determine if there would be a junior college in this area and it was originally the Knox Warren Junior College and it was later named Carl Sandburg through a contest,” DeMott says.
Asplund’s brother who’s a retired professor from Indiana is expected to speak at the dedication.
