A 101-year-old alumna just became the most important donor in Franklin College's history. Virginia Staff Shannon, who graduated from the Johnson County school in 1945, gave $15 million to her alma mater, the largest single gift the college has ever received, and the money will build a new home for the school's business and pre-law programs.
The gift, announced this month, dwarfs anything Franklin College has seen before. According to The Republic, college officials plan to build the Charles B. Staff Center at the corner of Monroe Street and Branigin Boulevard in Franklin, Indiana, a two-story building that will house classrooms, offices, collaboration spaces and conference rooms for the college's School of Business and its pre-law studies program. Both programs will carry the Staff name going forward. As reported by The Indiana Lawyer, Shannon's $15 million alone accounts for 37.5 percent of the college's entire $40 million “Franklin Forward” campaign target.
The new building is named for Shannon's father, Charles B. Staff, who graduated from Franklin College in 1914 and went on to become an attorney and judge before his death in 1953. The planned center will include a mock courtroom where pre-law students can practice skills, a trading lab where business students can gain practical investment experience, and a small auditorium seating about 50 people, where business professionals, attorneys and judges can be invited to campus, per the same Republic report. The project also calls for a covered patio.
A Life That Led Back to Campus
Shannon's path to becoming Franklin College's most generous donor was anything but typical. The Indianapolis Business Journal reports she raised two daughters as a young widow while spending 42 years working as an elementary school teacher and another 33 years in quality control for the Philip Morris Corporation, a career detailed in coverage from the Indianapolis Business Journal. Per The Republic, Shannon originally reached out to Franklin College President Kerry N. Prather about leaving money to the college in her will, then decided to convert that planned bequest into an immediate gift instead.
Prather became the college's head men's basketball coach in 1983, about 37 years before becoming president in February 2020, and served more than three decades as athletic director. He said the gift will create innovative learning opportunities for future generations of Franklin students, according to The Republic. Trustees extended his contract in 2023 through June 30, 2026; it was most recently extended through June 30, 2028, per Franklin College, giving the school continuity in leadership as it pushes through its largest fundraising effort to date. The Charles B. Staff Center project is currently in its pre-construction phase, with the college meeting with architects and moving through the permitting process; construction is planned to begin in spring 2027, The Republic reports.
Franklin Forward and a Record-Breaking Campaign
Shannon's gift is the centerpiece of “Franklin Forward: The Campaign for Franklin College,” a five-year, $40 million comprehensive campaign running through June 30, 2028. The drive aims to raise $30 million for the institutional endowment, $9.5 million for capital projects and $500,000 for immediate operational support ahead of the college's 200th anniversary, according to the Daily Journal. The campaign officially launched in April 2026 at Garment Factory Events in Franklin.
Before Shannon's contribution, the largest individual pledge in college history was a $3.9 million estate gift committed in April 2022 by 1971 alumna Eleanor Ackley, designated for endowment support, per Growjo. Other donors have added to the campaign's momentum this year: trustee emeritus Dan Hann and his wife Pam Hann committed $1 million in April, with $900,000 earmarked for the endowment, the same Daily Journal report notes. In August, the college secured a $400,000-plus estate gift from the late Carol and Dale Tumey of Greenwood, establishing endowed funds for men's and women's athletic programs, according to Franklin College.
Historic Gym Gets New Life Too
Part of the campaign's capital funding, $9.5 million, is going toward restoring and renovating the historic Elwood Fitness Center, described as Indiana's oldest college gymnasium. The project held a ceremonial groundbreaking on October 10, 2025, according to Aspire Johnson County's member news. Franklin College's School of Business is already the college's largest major, and its pre-law studies program has produced graduates accepted into law schools throughout the country, per The Republic.
Franklin College was founded in 1834 as the Indiana Baptist Manual-Labor Institute and became the first coeducational institution of higher learning in Indiana in 1842 when it began admitting women, according to the college's Wikipedia entry. Today the school sits on a 207-acre campus about 20 minutes south of Indianapolis in Johnson County, serving roughly 1,000 students across 49 undergraduate majors plus master's degree programs in athletic training and physician assistant studies.
The Republic reports that the college has recorded three consecutive years of new student enrollment increases and has earned top-ten U.S. News & World Report rankings among Midwest regional colleges. It has also expanded its campus with the Johnson Memorial Health Athletic Annex and Center for Tech Innovation, launched a competitive esports program, and introduced academic offerings in cybersecurity, neuroscience, sports communication, sports and fitness management, game development and digital marketing, according to the same report.
