New College receives $2.5M gift for contemplation, education center

A charitable foundation that traces some of its money back to the Mellon banking family fortune has donated $2.5 million to New College of Florida in Sarasota.

The money, which the school calls a “transformative” gift, will fund the design, construction and long-term preservation of the school’s Contemplation and Education Center, New College officials say in a statement. The gift comes from the DSF Charitable Foundation, which is led by Co-Executive Directors David and Sara Scaife; David Scaife’s later father was Richard Mellon Scaife, a grandnephew of businessman and philanthropist Andrew Mellon. 

David and Sara Scaife, husband and wife, the release states, and have a deep appreciation for the “region’s cultural and educational landscape” and live on the east coast of Florida,