Issue date: 6/12/06 Section: News

Ryan Ditty - The Battalion The Texas A&M Children's Center, which opened in the fall of 1998, provides child care to children of A&M faculty, staff, and students. The center is open year round and generally serves around 150 children ranging from six weeks to five years old.

Texas A&M's Children's Center will receive more than a $1 million endowment; it will also receive a new name.

In light of the endowment made by Arthur and Dorothy McFerrin, the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents announced its decision on May 26 to rename the center after Becky Gates, wife of University President Robert M. Gates.

Becky Gates, who became involved with the center after a tour of the facility and later served on its board, said adequate childcare is necessary for parents to succeed.

"When both parents have to work, good childcare becomes very important," she said. "I have a couple of children who are adults now, but if I hadn't had good child care when they were young, it would have been much harder, if not impossible, for me to work in my profession."

The Children's Center opened its doors on August 31, 1998 and since then it has provided students, faculty and staff members at A&M the chance to pursue educational and professional goals while knowing their children are receiving quality care.

The Center is open year-round and caters to as many as 152 children, who can range from six weeks to five years old.

The center educates children in all areas of development and early education, according to a news release issued by the University. It is self-supporting, with all tuition and fees reinvested, but uses donated funds to cover items it is unable to handle.

No decisions have been made regarding how the funds will be spent.

"The criteria for spending the money from the endowment, or spending the interest the $1 million makes over each year's period, which should be on average $50,000 a year, but the boundaries and guidelines have not yet been decided," said Di Fontenot, the center's director.

This has not stopped Becky Gates from speculating how the money should be used.

"They will look to meet the needs of the center first," she said. "But I hope some of the money might be used to help pay for children to attend, whose parents are students at the University."

Excitement over the ceremony to officially change the name to the Becky Gates Children's Center, which will take place during the fall semester, is building, Fontenot said.

"It's awesome, we're very excited," Fontenot said. "She's (Becky Gates) been a big supporter of the center, and actively sought to help us. It's an honor. She's just a great lady. We're not going to let her down."

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