Holy Cross gets $25M gift for performance center

Holy Cross gets $25M gift for performance center

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — The College of the Holy Cross has received the single largest gift in school history, $25 million the alumnus donor wants to be used to build a performing arts facility.

Cornelius Prior Jr., is a 1956 graduate of the Roman Catholic college in Worcester, and worked as a lawyer and in telecommunications. He says he wanted to leave behind something that would be “fun.”

He said when he was majoring in English, there was not much in the way of arts on campus, something that has changed since.

The Telegram & Gazette reports that Prior said Wednesday that the arts “give you that joyous feeling ... it elevates you.”

Holy Cross President the Rev. Philip Boroughs says the gift represents a new beginning for the school.

Prior went on to Harvard Law School and is a U.S. Navy veteran.