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Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2004
Contact: Dave Wellman, Director of Communications, (304) 696-7153
Moses family presents significant gift to Erickson Alumni Center
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – As a gift to their father, the children of Jack Fitzgerald Moses and Sue Moses of Huntington last week presented a significant gift in his name to Marshall University’s Erickson Alumni Center.
Interim MU President Michael J. Farrell accepted the gift on behalf of the university on Wednesday, Dec. 29, in his Old Main office. About 20 members of the Moses family looked on as Jack, accompanied by his wife of 62 years, was honored.
Because the gift was substantial, the new Erickson Alumni Center board room will be named the J.F. Moses Executive Board Room.
“The generosity of the Moses family has been a 50-year experience,” Farrell said. “The donation to name the premier conference room in honor of Jack Moses Sr. is graciously accepted and warmly welcomed by Marshall University.”
Jack Moses, a 1940 Marshall College graduate, described the gift as “a wonderful surprise for me.”
“I loved Marshall when I was here as a student and I still love it,” he said. “It has changed so many lives. It is a great university and I am proud to be part of it.”
Jack Fitzgerald Moses II said his father, who started in the automobile business in 1947 in Welch, W.Va., with the original Moses Automotive, has been a longtime Marshall supporter, providing donor automobiles to MU’s athletic department since 1955.
“Our father has been a businessman in West Virginia for almost 60 years, and we wanted to honor him,” Jack Moses II said. “This will be his 50th year of furnishing cars for Marshall. There are so many exciting things going on at Marshall and we wanted to be a part of it.”
Jack Fitzgerald Moses was born in Huntington, but his family moved to McDowell County, where his father was an accountant. Jack graduated from Iaeger High School. He turned down a football scholarship at Marshall to concentrate on earning his business degree.
Bob Moses, a Charleston resident and one of the Moses’ three sons, said it was appropriate to honor his father with a gift that helps Marshall and Huntington.
“He’s been a pillar of that community. That’s his home and always has been,” Bob Moses said. “We wanted to have something there for a long time that bears his name. He’s such a huge Marshall supporter and Marshall is such a large part of the Huntington community, we felt this was very appropriate. We wanted to let people know what he’s done.”
Although she did not attend Marshall, Sue Moses has joined her husband in supporting the university for years.
“We have always loved Marshall,” she said. “It has meant so much to both of us and now our children are part of the Marshall family, too.”
A fundraising campaign by the Marshall University Alumni Association has been ongoing for the past couple of years. The goal is to raise $3 million, which will be used to build a new Erickson Alumni Center.
“With the Moses contribution, this puts us well over the two-thirds mark in meeting our goal,” said Lance West, vice president for alumni development. “To this point we’ve attracted more than 1,000 investors to this very worthwhile project. We look forward to surpassing our goal in the very near future.”
Tom Harris, president of the alumni association, said the gift was a great gesture on the part of the Moses family.
“It shows their love for the community and the university,” Harris said. “It’s also vitally important to the alumni association as it gets us closer to the goal of building a new Erickson Alumni Center. This gift is a real shot in the arm as far as the alumni center is concerned.”