The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, has announced a $32.5 million gift from alumnus John E. Luth and his wife, Dr. Joanne Chouinard-Luth, in support of the expansion and renovation of its Hart Recreation Center and Fieldhouse.

The largest single gift in the Jesuit school's history will go toward an $87 million expansion of its indoor athletics center. Plans for the expanded center call for a year-round indoor practice field that benefits all field sports and an auxiliary gymnasium to provide more space for basketball and volleyball. The gift also includes $7.5 million to renovate the existing fieldhouse, which will be converted into a state-of-the-art recreation center benefiting the health and wellness of the entire Holy Cross community.

If the school can raise $60 million by September, an anonymous donor whose initial gift was $15 million will give an additional $5 million, bringing the funds raised to $65 million and making it possible for the school to break ground on the project next spring.

"My years at Holy Cross were truly transformational for me, and I am grateful to be in a position to pay forward to the Holy Cross community for the many kindnesses given to me, particularly by the Jesuit order," said John Luth, a 1974 Holy Cross graduate and the founder, CEO, and chair of the Seabury Group, a global investment company. "My Holy Cross education provided me with significant advantages that allowed me to achieve success in so many ways beyond just the business world. As a former Holy Cross trustee, I know that the college's mission remains riveted on developing 'the whole person,' not just academically, which the college has excelled at since its founding a hundred and seventy-two years ago. Jo's and my gift is a strong endorsement that now is the time for the college to make a significant investment in building state-of-the-art athletic facilities to further that mission. While we’ve been thinking about our commitment for some time, we were motivated to respond to the fundraising challenge presented to the college."