More than 120 donors, university leaders, and other proud Cougs gathered at the Grand Hyatt Seattle on September 5 for the WSU Foundation’s inaugural Crimson Celebration, an evening recognizing honorees whose lifetime giving and planned gift commitments reached significant milestones in fiscal years 2025 and 2026.
Brian MacMillan, chief meteorologist at FOX 13 Seattle and a two-time WSU alumnus, served as emcee. MacMillan recalled driving from Las Vegas to Alabama for a Cougar football game and stopping at three in the morning at the Albuquerque home of a Coug he had never met, who welcomed five strangers, fed them, and showed them Ol’ Crimson. That, MacMillan said, is what the Cougar community amounts to: “It’s a community that says, ‘You’re a Coug? Come on in.'”
Each of the 43 honorees reached milestones during fiscal years 2025 and 2026 through one of several WSU giving societies. The 1890 Legacy Society recognizes documented planned gift commitments, the Benefactors Society recognizes cumulative giving above $100,000, and the Laureates Society recognizes cumulative giving above $1 million.
Over the course of the evening, four short videos and remarks from university leaders traced what that generosity has built across the WSU system.
Dori Borjesson, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, described the endowed chair that Heidi Charleson and her late husband, Lou Woodworth, established in honor of Dr. Rance Sellon. It will strengthen veterinary oncology at WSU—the research, the clinical care, and the education of future veterinarians for decades to come.
Dave Cillay, chancellor of WSU Global Campus, pointed to Schweitzer Engineering Hall, where nearly 100 donors came together to create a hub for engineering, architecture, design, and computer science students. He also recognized Becky and Lynn Miner, who spent more than 30 years rehabilitating 100 acres in Chewelah into a healthy wildlife refuge and then gave the tree farm to WSU Extension Forestry, so that family forest owners across the state can learn to better steward their own land.
Bruce Pinkleton, dean of the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, spoke about what philanthropy makes possible for students, including a $2 million scholarship in the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine that lowers barriers for students who intend to practice in rural and underserved communities.
“These [donor-recognition groups] represent remarkable generosity,” said Mike Connell, vice president for Advancement and CEO of the WSU Foundation, at the ceremony. “Yet what inspires us most is not the milestone itself, but what that generosity makes possible.”
Provost and Executive Vice President T. Chris Riley-Tillman closed the program in that same spirit. “These aspirations do not happen by accident,” he said. “They happen because people care enough to invest in them.”
Many of the commitments recognized at Crimson Celebration were made quietly and over many years, long before there was an evening set aside to mark them. Their results are already at work: a chair in veterinary oncology, 100 acres of restored forest in Chewelah, a building full of engineering students in Pullman, and scholarships that will send doctors to the towns that need them.
The WSU Foundation is grateful to the honorees and guests who attended the inaugural celebration, and for all the good they make possible throughout the communities WSU serves.