WFDL news has learned the largest financial donation in Ripon College history is tied to a fraternity and the building it once called home. The Merriman House on Congress Street was home to the Phi Kappa Pi fraternity or Merriman until the fall of 2010 when the fraternity was relocated to a dorm. A little more than a decade later the historic Merriman house was razed. In an interview with WFDL news College president Victoria Folse confirmed the historic $20 million donation to the college has a direct tie to that fraternity. Folse says the donor and group of Merrimen credit their experiences at Ripon College and connection to the fraternity as fueling their success. “This is an opportunity to give back and to recreate that same experience for future generations of Merrimen,” Folse told WFDL news. Folse says in addition to the construction of a revitalized Merriman house, on the property where the house stood for more than a century, the funds will also be used to renovate existing residence halls, and the potential construction of a new residence hall.
