The Centennial Funds

What started as a $325,000 donation to the university in the 1960s, the Gallaudet Centennial Funds have grown into the lifeblood of our great institution. Originally initiated by Dr. David Peikoff (’29), the Alumni Association chairman, the funding supports three objectives: providing scholarship support to GU graduates pursuing advanced degrees; enriching and celebrating the culture of the deaf community; and maintaining the Alumni House, which was proudly architected by Hilbert Duning, an acclaimed deaf architect.

The Gallaudet University Alumni Association Graduate Fellowship Fund provides Deaf graduates of Gallaudet University and other accredited colleges and universities with an improved opportunity to prepare themselves through graduate study at colleges and universities for the hearing.

The Laurent Clerc Cultural Fund promotes projects and activities that culturally enrich the deaf community.

Alumni House Maintenance Fund

Original Purpose:The Alumni House Maintenance Fund was intended to design, erect, and maintain a multipurpose building on Kendall Green or in its immediate vicinity.

Renovating ‘Ole Jim’: In 1978, Gallaudet and the Alumni Association Board agreed to redefine the purpose of the Fund, using the money raised to renovate “Ole Jim,” the school’s 1881 gymnasium, into an Alumni House. An intensive fundraising campaign was co-chaired by Alan B. (’32) and Florence Bridges (’35) Crammatte and David (1929) and Pauline Nathanson (E-’36) Peikoff. Renovations were completed in 1982.

A new name: In 1995, the University Board of Trustees officially renamed Ole Jim as the Peikoff Alumni House, in honor of David and Polly Peikoff.