The University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents unanimously approved a recommendation to retain the Eastcliff Mansion as the University’s presidential residence and redirect funds currently spent on its maintenance at a special meeting July 22.

The Board’s vote followed the final report and recommendation by the Eastcliff Property Task Force at the Board’s meeting on July 10 to redirect most University financial resources to better align with University goals. Operating costs are planned to be covered with an endowment fund, created by philanthropic support.

The Brooks family donated the mansion to the University in 1958. Since then, the residence has hosted University presidents, world leaders, celebrities and most recently, Gov. Tim Walz and his family. 

Regent Mary Davenport, the chair of the Eastcliff Property Task Force, brought a final report and recommendation concerning the residence at the July 10 meeting.

In that meeting, Davenport said the task force, formed in September 2022, was asked to review Eastcliff as part of a broader review of the University’s strategic property planning. The task force then delivered an initial report in December 2022 and returned with the final report and recommendation in July.

The Task Force’s four-part recommendation is as follows:

1. Retain Eastcliff as the University’s presidential residence and a significant event venue.
2. Raise, in collaboration with the University of Minnesota Foundation (UMF), sufficient philanthropic support over the next five years to create an endowed fund to provide direct ongoing operating expenses as well as one-time funding for capital expenses included in the 10-year Capital Plan.
3. Redirect most of the University’s financial resources currently spent on Eastcliff to high-priority system-wide strategic goals.
4. Streamline governance oversight of the facility.

UMF conducted a study to see if there was sufficient philanthropic support and determined there was, according to Davenport. 

“It’s just got such history and meaning to people,” Davenport said in an interview with the Minnesota Daily. “That’s why donors who connect with it in a meaningful way were interested in us keeping it and maintaining it for a presidential home.”

University presidents are required to live at Eastcliff per their contracts, Davenport said. While the residence is on the home’s second level, the first floor has been used as a gathering space for presidents for 66 years. 

In the interview, Davenport, who was interim president of Rochester Community and Technical College and whose husband Richard Davenport was president of Minnesota State University, Mankato from 2002-2021, drew from her experience living in a presidential residence to speak of the importance Eastcliff has on the University community. 

“Every week, we had one or more events at our house,” Davenport said. “People come up to me and they say, ‘I was a student scholar and I remember being at your house.’ It’s meaningful. And so you multiply that over the years that Eastcliff has existed, so many events and so many people there. It’s a pretty significant number.”

Andrea Burke, who works with Minneapolis Community Planning and Economic Development, said historical buildings give a powerful sense of place which helps community members connect with the area. 

“I feel that a lot of people feel a strong connection to a sense of place and it means a lot of different things to a lot of different people,” Burke said. “But there tends to be a strong sense of it and it connects people and they feel very close to it and protective of it and a lot of good feelings and thoughts come from it.”

Upon the Board’s approval at the July 22 meeting, Davenport said the UMF will raise $4.5 million over the next five years to establish an operating endowment fund, covering the majority of operating costs for the residence. 

Davenport said the endowment fund will be supplemented by University support equivalent to a presidential housing allowance and salaries of those maintaining Eastcliff’s operations.

In the July 10 meeting, Davenport said the University will supply the capital financing up front and be reimbursed through philanthropic contributions as they are made. The timing of fundraising and pledges is consistent with how other capital projects are handled at the University, she said.

If sufficient funds are not able to be raised in five years, the Board may revisit if continuing to retain Eastcliff is in the best interest of the University at that point, Davenport said.

Corrections: A previous version of this article misstated Mary Davenport’s past leadership role at RCTC as Interim Dean. She was Interim President.