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The Future of Pharmacy
A student pledge challenge and upcoming tribute campaign keep momentum
running strong to raise funds for the proposed pharmacy building.
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Fourth-year pharmacy student Kevin Curler knows most of his classmates
face student loans after graduation, but that didn’t stop him from
issuing a $20,000 matching challenge to his fellow students to get MUSC
one step closer to groundbreaking on a proposed 83,000 square-foot
pharmacy building.
 Kevin Curler hopes
to inspire fellow students to forgo a few luxuries to raise funds for
the new pharmacy building.
Curler, class president, joined forces with fellow class officers Peni
Duncan and Christie King to pledge to match, dollar for dollar, any
donations made by the class up to $20,000.
“Last year’s class pledged over $19,000, the single largest gift from a
graduating class ever at MUSC, regardless of college,” he said. “I want
to see that number pushed over $40,000.”
 A rendering of the
new phamacy building.
MUSC President Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., describes the gesture as
being truly inspirational.
“It should motivate all of us to do more ourselves. It makes it much
easier to ask others, such as alumni, to help when our students who
have tremendous financial pressures are making such leadership gifts.”
It’s difficult to predict when plans will proceed with the South
Carolina College of Pharmacy’s (SCCP) building on its MUSC campus.
Greenberg said it depends on how fast private funding can be raised and
the availability of a state capital bond bill.
The Drug Discovery Building, expected to be completed fall 2011, will
provide the pharmacy college with teaching and research space,
including a new pharmacy practice lab funded by CVS, but this is not
the long-term solution, said Greenberg. “Ultimately, the new building
for the college will be integrated with the Drug Discovery Building and
will provide a world-class educational and research environment.”
In the interim, it’s the enthusiasm of advocates such as Curler and
events such as the tribute campaign celebration Feb. 19 honoring Wayne
Weart, PharmD, that help keep the momentum moving forward.
Greenberg said these steps are vital to the building campaign. “This
program is critical to our vision for the role that MUSC can play in
training pharmacists, improving health care and driving the
knowledge-based economy of our state.”
 A rendering of the
lobby atrium of the new pharmacy building. Renderings by LS3P
Associates LTD.
Megan Draper, MUSC campus director of development for the College of
Pharmacy, said the MUSC pharmacy family of staff, faculty, students,
alumni and other friends has contributed more than $3 million toward
this $30 million campaign goal. The proposed new facility is a
six-story, 83,000-square-foot building located on President Street that
is to be linked via pedestrian skyways to the Drug Discovery Building
and the College of Dental Medicine building.
“Right now we must push forward in raising private funds to support the
campaign. Every gift makes a difference,” said Draper. “With any
campaign, the key is continued support and dedication to meeting the
goal. When external stakeholders see considerable support internally,
it is very persuasive and helps raise additional dollars. The
administration is dedicated to seeing this through.”
 The tribute
campaign celebration for Dr. Wayne Weart will be Feb. 19 at the
Charleston Marriott.
The idea for the tribute campaign for Weart came almost two years ago
when alumni came to her to ask how to honor Weart for his many years of
service and his passion for pharmacy education. Discussing various
options, they decided the perfect way was to name an area of the new
building in his honor. On Feb. 19, friends and colleagues will gather
at the Charleston Marriott to celebrate his birthday, toast his
contributions to the profession and raise money in his honor for the
new MUSC pharmacy building.
Alumna Deborah Stier Carson, building leadership committee member, said
it seemed logical to honor him in the Building the Future of Pharmacy
Campaign since he has devoted his career to building the future of the
profession.
“When students enter an area of the building named after Wayne, they
should know that they will work hard and gain an abundant amount of
knowledge,” said Carson. “His teaching has touched thousands of lives,
and it is our desire to have generations of pharmacists know the impact
he made on their profession.”
Draper said the tribute campaign provides the college the opportunity
to recognize key people in its history through what will be one of the
greatest milestones in almost a century for the MUSC campus. “We also
have the privilege of honoring Dr. Arnold Karig and look forward to
honoring others in the future,” she said.
For more than 70 years the current building on Calhoun Street has been
home to pharmacy education at MUSC, but the facility has become
outdated.
Joseph T. DiPiro, PharmD, SCCP executive dean, said the new building
will make an important impact.
“Our physical surroundings facilitate the work of our faculty. Properly
designed, built and equipped, a new building can enhance productivity
of our faculty, empowering them to continue producing the best-trained
pharmacists in the nation,” he said. “This is the passion that leads to
building the future of pharmacy.”
Curler certainly has that passion. The class president, who holds a
master’s in business administration, figured out that pledges can be
made during a five-year time frame. If 75 class members pledge $100 per
year during that time, it would add up to $57,500. That breaks down to
two fancy coffees a month, he said.
He’ll drink to that.
Campaign fast facts
- 77 percent of MUSC faculty and staff support
the building fund, having raised more than $112,000
- 74 percent of the class of 2010 raised $19,295
(more than any class, of any college, has raised in the class gift
campaign)
- The class officers of the class of 2011 have
issued a matching
challenge gift of $20,000 to their classmates to support the building
campaign.
- The pharmacy leadership society, Phi Lambda
Sigma, has donated $5,000 toward the building.
For more information about the South Carolina College of Pharmacy,
visit
http://www.sccp.sc.edu/welcome/facts.aspx
MUSC’s building campaign, http://www.buildingthefutureofpharmacy.org/index.html
Dr. Wayne Weart tribute campaign, http://www.buildingthefutureofpharmacy.org/newevents.html
Friday, Feb. 11,
2011
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