MIU received four grants from the Wege Foundation this year, totaling $320,000. This is the ninth consecutive year MIU has received Wege Foundation support, and this year’s grants bring the total support to $3,686,139.

Over these nine years, Wege Foundation grants have funded a remarkably wide range of university areas: critical campus renovations, faculty research and publication, curriculum development, renewable energy, faculty and staff training, endowment development, communications skills training, student events, student scholarships, and more.

This year’s four grants included $225,000 to help renovate a women’s dormitory, $75,000 for a grand sculpture outside the newly-renovated Wege Center for the Arts, $10,000 for annual end-of-the-year Wege Awards to outstanding faculty and staff in recognition of their service, and $10,000 for additional faculty and staff support.

“Wege Foundation grants have boosted the university inside and out. They have uplifted every student, faculty, and staff member and inspired the whole campus community.”

— MIU President John Hagelin

“Wege Foundation grants have boosted the university inside and out,” said MIU President John Hagelin. “They have uplifted every student, faculty, and staff member and inspired the whole campus community. They’ve generated fresh energy and momentum that we wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

The Wege Foundation, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was founded in 1967 by Peter M. Wege, chairman of Steelcase, Inc. He was known for his compassion and generosity, his passion for the environment, and the motto he often quoted: “Do all the good you can. For all the people you can. For as long as you can.”

Wege Foundation grants have supported Dr. Hagelin’s innovative research on dark matter, research on the Maharishi Effect, faculty presentations at professional conferences, MIU’s MEG’Array Solar Power Plant and the Schwartz-Guich Sustainable Living Center, faculty art exhibits, student field trips, locally-grown organic food for the dining hall, the endowment fund, faculty and staff service awards, and more. Wege Foundation grants have also contributed substantially to Maharishi School, the K-12 school on the MIU campus.

The Wege Center for the Arts

A four-year series of grants from the Wege Foundation, totaling more than $1 million, supported renovating the building now called the Wege Center for the Arts, transforming it inside and out. This building houses the academic programs in art, creative writing, and cinematic arts and new media as well as the Writing Center.

The renovation included transforming an outdoor porch into a magnificent glass-enclosed gallery, with art works visible from outside as well as in:

Grants also supported creating a new east entrance:

And they supported exterior landscaping: