WilmU’s Brandywine campus will get two new buildings with the help of a $1 million grant from the Longwood Foundation.
The Brandywine campus of Wilmington University will soon expand by 200%.
Thanks to a $1 million grant by the Longwood Foundation, WilmU’s Brandywine Campus – located at 10 Beaver Valley Road in Wilmington – will go from one building to three.
The grant will help pay for the construction of a law school building and a convocation center.
According to WilmU, Longwood cites that the awarded grant links the limited diversity within Delaware’s legal profession and Wilmington University’s long tradition as an open-access, accredited and inclusive institution.
The full cost of the building was not disclosed, but Longwood generally requires matching funds, often ponying up the last of the money, not the first.
The Delaware Business Times reported in May 2023 that WilmU will also use $45 million in bonds to fund the two buildings.
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The private, nonprofit university serves traditional students starting their college careers, non-traditional students and working adults seeking advancement through higher education.
“We have fostered a caring environment and offered convenience, flexibility and affordable tuition to students from all walks of life since we were established 56 years ago,” said President LaVerne Harmon, president of WilmU.
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The convocation center will be an 85,000-square-foot building and will feature a 2,000-seat auditorium, a sizable stage for graduation ceremonies and events and a new home for the Wilmington University Criminal Justice Institute.
The law school building will be three stories and will span 52,000-square-feet. It will showcase an expansive atrium, classrooms, library, private study rooms and office space.
RELATED: WilmU law school to start with 100 students, be accredited by 2025
Harmon said the law school mirrors WilmU’s philosophy of convenience, flexibility and affordability “by establishing admission pathways to all qualified students, including underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, and by educating future attorneys who will reflect the populations they serve.”
The law school had its inaugural class in August 2023, operating at Brandywine’s current single-building location, which also houses classrooms, labs and offices.
Raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Jarek earned a B.A. in journalism and a B.A. in political science from Temple University in 2021. After running CNN’s Michael Smerconish’s YouTube channel, Jarek became a reporter for the Bucks County Herald before joining Delaware LIVE News.
Jarek can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at (215) 450-9982. Follow him on Twitter @jarekrutz
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