University of Tennessee President John Petersen could think of 32 1/2 million reasons to be thankful Wednesday.

Roger Stephens, director of UT's School of Music, can make plans to renovate and expand a building that houses nearly three times as many students as it was built for.



College of Business Administration Dean Jan Williams can go shopping for technology, and UT's Athletics program got money for something old -- Neyland Stadium -- and something new, a basketball practice facility.

UT today will officially announce Jim and Natalie Haslam's $32.5 million gift.

The gift from the couple and the Haslam Family Foundation is spread across several programs.

The Haslams have supported the university for years, and Petersen said if you could build a model of an ideal supporter, "Jim and Natalie, and their whole family, would be who you would want."

A little more than two-thirds of the money, or 70 percent, goes to academic programs while the rest will be spent on athletics.

The donation is the lead gift for UT's upcoming capital campaign.

"It's almost outrageously generous," said UT Knoxville Chancellor Loren Crabtree.

He said the gift will serve multiple needs at the university.

"So, it will have an enormous quality impact and will make things so much better for students and faculty," Crabtree said.

The School of Music will get the largest portion of the gift, $10 million.

"This building was designed for 160 music majors and we have 420 music majors," Stephens said. "So it really just means the world to us as far as taking the School of Music to a new level."

Stephens said the school plans major renovations and expansions of the building.

"Certainly facilities aren't everything, but you have to be able to have the right facilities and equipment to do the job," he said.

The College of Business Administration got the second-largest gift, $7.5 million.

"I mean, that's a big gift," said Williams. "It's the largest ever for our college and we are really excited about it."

He said the CBA hasn't decided exactly what it will do with the money, that "we're just now really beginning to sort that out," but he said he had talked to Haslam about using some of it for state-of-the-art technology for the college's new building.

The Haslams didn't attach any strings to their gifts, other than selecting the programs they would go to, giving administrators the flexibility to use the money where the greatest needs are. Most donors specify what their gift is to be used for.

"I think that is a measure of the Haslams' wisdom," Crabtree said. "They recognize we have so many needs and want us to address the most pressing needs, and they are not putting so many restraints on the gift.

"So it is the best of all worlds for us and we are so grateful to them for their wisdom and ability to see the needs of the institution in that regard."

Randy Kenner may be reached at 865-342-6305.