9/16/99 KIRK DOUGLAS GIVES $1 MILLION TO ST. LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY CANTON -- St. Lawrence University's most famous graduate, film legend Kirk Douglas, announced today that he is giving $1 million to his alma mater to fund scholarships for minority students. Douglas made the announcement during a visit to the Canton, New York, campus, only the second he has made since his graduation in 1939. St. Lawrence's theater was standing-room-only with students, faculty and community residents for a noon presentation by Douglas, who reminisced about his days as president of the student government, champion wrestler and English major. Douglas said that he is making the gift to the University for a scholarship for minorities, because he believes "the school benefits from the interaction of people from all different cultures and backgrounds. "I'm giving something back to the school," Douglas commented, "because I think every person should try to make the world better any way that they can." He said that he was pleased to see greater diversity on campus than existed when he was a student, but added that even more should be done to allow students from a variety of backgrounds to obtain an education at St. Lawrence. Following the public event, which included a question-and-answer session, Douglas joined St. Lawrence students in the campus dining hall for lunch and conversation. Douglas' only other visit to campus since his graduation was in 1958, when he attended a reunion and received an honorary degree.
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