Local family honoured at Niagara College’s Niagara-on-the-Lake campus
Published November 22, 2021 at 4:20 pm
The Student Commons at Niagara College’s Niagara-on-the-Lake campus now has a new name – the Rankin Family Student Commons.
On November 19, there was an official ceremony at the school attended by members of the Rankin family and a number of faculty.
The family recently donated $540,000 to the college’s Dan Patterson Legacy Foundation, named after the college president who lead the college from 1995 to 2020. The Foundation raises funds to support students in achieving their educational and career goals by funding needs-based bursaries, merit-based scholarships and travel bursaries for students in college’s signature Be World Ready program.
The Rankin family’s donation helps create the Rankin Construction-Dan Patterson Legacy Bursary, a permanent endowed fund will provide annual bursaries to college students in programs related to the construction and healthcare industries.
“We are delighted to contribute to a fund that honours the remarkable legacy of Dan Patterson and supports students financially at Niagara College,” said Tom Rankin on behalf of his family, whose business Rankin Construction is one of the biggest in the region.
“We strongly believe it is important to give back to the community in which we do business, and we are proud to provide support that enables greater access to education for students now and well into the future, supporting the next generation of industry professionals along their path to success.”
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This latest donation from the Rankin family brings their donations to the college to more than $1.7 million. The family has contributed to the enhancement of the Technology Centre at the Welland Campus, named the Rankin Technology Centre, supported many college events, including the Seafood Gala and annual Golf Tournament, and donated towards the creation of the Saundra Patterson Memorial Garden currently being built at the Daniel J. Patterson Campus.
(Photo from Niagara College: Members of the Rankin family, seated, attended a ceremony where the Student Commons was named after their family last Friday.)
