by | 26 August, 2025 | 2 comments
By Rick Cherok
Great Lakes Christian College, Lansing, MI, recently announced that they have received the largest gift in the school’s history. The $1 million gift, according to GLCC leadership, was made by a non-profit founded by entrepreneur Jamie Osborne.
This gift will enable GLCC to upgrade their facilities and provide a better learning environment for their students. One of the most significant challenges smaller private colleges have faced over the past decades has been deferred maintenance issues. “As someone with deep experience in higher education,” according to GLCC President Frank Weller, “Mr. Osborne understands that, while a gift to address aging infrastructure might not be highly visible, it is critically important to GLCC’s sustainable future. His gift will improve student satisfaction and learning outcomes by providing comfortable environments for our students to live and learn.”
Upgrades to HVAC systems are expected to be completed over the next twelve months according to GLCC, but some students are the immediate beneficiaries of campus improvements as those students living in Hasty Hall and Matthews Hall will enjoy newly air-conditioned housing facilities. Dean of Students, Dr. Brian Baldwin said, “Returning students are giddy with excitement. August and September in Michigan are sticky, but this fall students will have some relief from the heat and humidity.”
School officials report that Osborne has also pledged an additional $2 million in matching funds to address needs like replacing asphalt, installing new roofs, and other critical facility upgrades. In doing so, Osborne hopes to inspire others to match his contributions with gifts to the college’s endowment. Currently the GLCC endowment stands at just under $1 million. Growing the endowment will ensure stability through the ebb and flow of future enrollment cycles.
GLCC’s Vice President of Institutional Advancement, Jamie Wetzel, stated, “We are incredibly grateful for Mr. Osborne’s generosity and vision because gifts to the college’s endowment will not only unlock his matching gift for additional campus improvements, but when the match is fulfilled will also help sustain our mission to train students to be servant leaders well into the future.”
Rick Cherok serves as Managing Editor of Christian Standard, Executive Director of Celtic Christian Mission, and Director of Men’s Services at Kentucky Christian University.
I am so thankful for men who see the need for such a contribution as this. I could only wish there were many such Christian leaders. Our colleges need contributors like this. My thanks to Mr. Osborne for the vision he possesses and also to GLBC for her years of faithful service. My memory extends back many years when I was a personal friend to many of the former administrators and faculty members with whom I was a personal friend.
Thank you, Bob, for expressing appreciation to Jamie Osborne. Well stated. As a Great Lakes graduate from nearly 60 years ago, I am glad the school continues to prosper. Charles Matthews, Louis Detro, and John Hasty were presidents during my years of study, and they obviously laid a solid foundation for the good things GLCC is experiencing today. I am a proud alumnus.
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