Kum & Go Family Donates $5 Million to Revamp Iowa Stadium

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The University of Iowa's Kinnick Stadium renovation campaign got a boost Friday when officials announced a $5 million donation from William and Nancy Krause, the family who owns the Kum & Go convenience store chain, reported the Iowa City Press-Citizen.

The donation, through the University of Iowa Foundation, will help pay for the $87 million renovation of Kinnick Stadium. William Krause, co-founder and CEO of the Kum & Go chain, said he contributed the money because of what UI had given him, including a degree in journalism and mass communications in 1957.

"Iowa gave me something I will cherish for the rest of my life," he said, referring to his time in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and his work as football team manager under then-coach Forest Evashevski.

School officials announced the gift during a press conference at the UI Athletics Hall of Fame. Associate athletic director Mark Jennings said the gift and other smaller donations helped get a third of the $15 million goal for outright private gifts in the stadium campaign.
The remainder of the $87 million project cost will be paid for through the sale of suites and club seats.

The renovation, scheduled to be completed after the next two football seasons, will include 40 new skybox suites, an expanded press box, a new entryway on the south side of the stadium and a new scoreboard. The donation ties for the largest ever to the UI athletic department, matching a $5 million grant from Russell and Ann Gerdin of North Liberty in 2002.
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