The Evanston Township High School Foundation, which raises money for projects that the school’s annual budget can’t cover on its own, announced Friday that it has received a $2.5 million donation from the Lewis-Sebring Family Foundation.
According to the ETHS Foundation, the funds will go toward the five-year capital improvement program, which “aims to enhance school facilities, infrastructure, and learning spaces, including an expansion of the school’s Arts and Innovation Wing.”
This gift comes on the heels of a $7 million donation from Leonard Schaeffer, the founding chairman and CEO of WellPoint Insurance (now Elevance Health) and an ETHS alum. That money is going to fund a remodel of the school auditorium, which will be renamed the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for the Performing Arts.
A portion of this newly announced $2.5 million gift will help develop a new gallery adjacent to the auditorium, which “will offer a dynamic setting for students to express their creativity, engage as a community, and host diverse exhibitions and events,” the ETHS Foundation said in a press release. That area will be named the Lewis-Sebring Gallery.
“The Capital Improvement Program at ETHS is not just about spaces and structures; it is about opportunity. It’s about creating pathways for our students to thrive and for future leaders to emerge from our halls,” Superintendent Marcus Campbell said in a written statement. “This generous contribution exemplifies the Lewis-Sebring family’s commitment to Evanston and helps us build on ETHS’s tradition as a leader in innovation and progress.”
The Lewis-Sebring Family Foundation is a major donor to local community organizations focused on education, equity and youth outreach, particularly ETHS and the McGaw YMCA. This $2.5 million donation is its largest gift to the ETHS Foundation.
“The campaign’s focus on improving our students’ exposure to career pathways and the arts will help propel this vision forward,” the family foundation said in a statement about the ETHS capital improvement program. “Public sources of funding are often insufficient to maintain and transform our public institutions, like ETHS, and require the philanthropic support of alumni, parents, and the broader community.”
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