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FARGO, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota State University is changing the name of its School of Music to honor two longtime supporters.
The school has scheduled an Oct. 8 concert at Festival Concert Hall to celebrate The Robert and Sheila Challey School of Music. The Challeys have pledged more than $4.2 million to the school since 2006.
NDSU alumnus Robert Challey is a real-estate developer and investor in California. Sheila Challey, a volunteer fundraiser for Children's Hospital of Oakland, is an active member of Bison Arts, a social and fundraising organization for the NDSU Division of Performing Arts.
"It's a tremendous honor," said Robert Challey, who graduated from NDSU in 1967 with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and received an honorary doctorate from the school in 2009. "It's the kind of thing you never think about or aspire to. To have our family name associated with NDSU and the School of Music means a great deal to us."
Hundreds of NDSU music students have benefited during the last decade from the Challey Scholarship Fund.
"Bob and Sheila Challey have profoundly elevated the stature of NDSU music and our mission to serve our students and the public," said John Miller, director of the school's Division of Performing Arts.
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