The Morgridge Family Foundation has imparted a transformational gift of $3 million to support the Colorado State University College of Agricultural Sciences and educational programming at the new public-facing CSU Spur campus in Denver.

The gift signals the first large-scale private donation toward the new CSU Spur campus in Denver, which seeks to engage the public in research and issues of global importance.

“We see amazing promise for impact and innovation at CSU’s Spur campus and our family is honored to be a leading contributor to CSU’s public work at the intersection of ag education, ag tech, and urban/rural connectedness,” said Carrie Morgridge, vice president of the Morgridge Family Foundation.

CSU Spur is a first-of-its-kind concept in the connection between higher education and Pre-K-12 students. The three-building campus is a built-for-the-public space for research, teaching, and community use that is meant to inspire and engage people in educational, fun, and forward-thinking programs and activities, connect visitors to real-time research and careers, and share the resources of the CSU System’s three campuses: CSU, CSU Pueblo, and CSU Global.

The new Morgridge Learning Lab at CSU Spur takes the mission of engaging and empowering future leaders to the next level.

The Morgridge Learning Lab – home to CAM’s Ag Academy and other educational programs – is a 1450-square-foot teaching lab space, designed to host a variety of hands-on, problem-based learning activities for 6th-12th grade students. The Terra building at CSU Spur, where the lab is located, opens to the public on June 8, and is one of three buildings in the university system’s offerings of this externally facing campus.

In addition to supporting the learning lab space and programming, the Morgridge gift will establish an urban/rural connectivity portal at CSU Spur for connecting people across the state to learn and collaborate to solve problems in real time. The gift will also help CSU integrate its sustainable food systems and hunger relief research within the regional landscape of key actors and impacts, and support Ag Pathway Scholars, elevating new agricultural leaders that will impact industry, education, and future generations.

Find out more in the press release.