Lee and Penny Anderson: Transforming a Campus.
Anyone stepping foot on St. Thomas’ St. Paul campus can see the difference made by Lee and Penny Anderson. Fifteen years ago, their $60 million lead gift transformed the university with buildings for athletics, a student center and a parking facility – all of which bear their name. In January, they continued their unprecedented support of St. Thomas with another transformative gift. The university announced the couple’s $75 million donation to build the Lee and Penny Anderson Arena. It is St. Thomas’ largest single gift, and is the ninth largest to any Division I athletics program.
Their donation officially kicked off fundraising with a goal of $131 million for the venue on the university’s south campus. Total project costs are estimated at $175 million and, provided funding goals are met, the arena would open for the 2025-26 athletic season.
The arena will elevate the on-campus experience for St. Thomas students as the home for commencement, events, basketball and hockey, President Rob Vischer said. In addition, it will catalyze support for local and regional businesses.
“Even though St. Thomas has been advancing knowledge, changing lives and strengthening communities for 138 years, our culture of innovation and remarkable philanthropic support make clear: We’re just getting started,” he said.
Anderson said he and Penny looked at St. Thomas’ past, its values and the path forward that President Vischer and his predecessors have set.
“Now, more than ever, our world needs leaders with strong moral character who believe in the mission to serve the common good,” Anderson said. “As a private university, enhancing the student experience and elevating St. Thomas to greater heights requires all alumni and friends to get behind it. We hope they see our gift as a challenge to boost St. Thomas’ mission for the world to see.”
Given such passion for the university, many people are surprised to learn that neither Lee nor Penny are graduates from St. Thomas. Rather, the relationship centers on an alignment of values with the Catholic institution.
The same can be said about the leadership of the Andersons, who have been married since 1965.
“They’re just good neighbor people who love God, love their family and are trying to make their world better according to their best lights,” said Father Dennis Dease, who was president of St. Thomas from 1991 to 2013.
Lee and Penny were introduced to St. Thomas in the 1990s by their friends, longtime St. Thomas benefactors John and Susan Morrison.
Dease recalls the university’s connection with the Andersons started with a trip to Cuba when the Tommies played the University of Havana in baseball. After the trip, Dease started thinking about how the Andersons, avid boaters who frequently traveled to the Caribbean, “had a kind of a love for the people of the Caribbean.” With that insight, the university asked the couple if they would be interested in an endowment for students from the Caribbean to attend St. Thomas. They said “yes.”
From there, the relationships flourished, with Lee joining the Board of Trustees, a seat he held actively for 14 years, and making gifts – like the one for the arena – that continue to transform St. Thomas because they believe in the goals and mission of the university.
“St. Thomas’ vision for this new arena is not only good for the university, but for all of St. Paul, the Twin Cities and Minnesota,” Lee Anderson said.
“The Andersons really serve as an example of extraordinary success in entrepreneurship,” Dease said. “And with Christian values, that entrepreneurship flows over into social entrepreneurship.”
