Cowley College Announces Location of Sumner County Campus
Land valued at more than $1 million donated by the Bill Short Family of Oxford
Photo credit to Wellington Daily News
The Cowley College Board of Trustees convened for its first board meeting since the election on Monday, November 21, 2016, and approved a property/naming agreement for the Sumner County campus after announcing a gift of land in excess of $1 million dollars by the Short family of Oxford.
Marjorie Short, the wife of the late Bill Short, is the owner of Short Land Company, LLC, and the donor of 18 acres of property just east of Walmart along Highway 160. In honor of the donation, the family received naming rights and announced the naming of the first building to be the Short General Education Center.
“Two weeks ago, Sumner County voters gave us their approval to move forward with a Cowley College campus in this community,” said Dr. Rittle at the Sumner County Economic Development office where the board approved the property agreement. “Now, because of the generosity of Marjorie Short and her family, we’ve got a location in east Wellington and are able to begin our construction plan so we can open the Short General Education Center in the fall of 2018.”
In attendance at the meeting with the Board of Trustees were several members of the Short family. “Education has always been a top priority for our family,” said Nancy Burger, daughter of Marjorie and the late Bill Short. “My parents were the first in their families to graduate from college. While being college educated does not guarantee success, our family has long believed education opens doors that might otherwise remain closed. We would like for all children and adults to have convenient access to a quality education and that’s why our family donated this land to Cowley College to build the Sumner County campus.”
Natives of Oklahoma, Marjorie and Bill Short settled in Oxford, Kansas in December of 1956 to work in partnership with Bill’s father in S & S Oil Company. Four years later, Bill bought his father out and formed the WD Short Oil Company. In 1972, Bill and Marjorie founded Short Land Company after purchasing 160 acres of land north of Oxford.
They had four children: Don, Nancy, Ben, and Tom.
In addition to the 18 acres Marjorie bequeathed to Cowley College, the College will be given a future opportunity to purchase up to an additional 10 acres of adjacent property at a fixed cost.
“We are fortunate to have people like the Short family that give of themselves for the good of the community,” said Bob Juden, chair of the Cowley College Board of Trustees. “We appreciate their generosity in gifting us this land.”