text: KWC alumni donate funds to name Panther Room | News | messenger-inquirer.com
  KWC alumni donate funds to name Panther Room
  Kentucky Wesleyan College received a $150,000 gift from J. Charles and Margaret Schertzinger to name the Panther Room in the school's Jack T. Wells Activity Center.
  The Schertzingers are KWC alumni who have supported the college for more than 60 years.
  J. Charles Schertzinger is a retired optometrist who established and practiced at RiverPark EyeCare in Owensboro for more than 40 years. He served on the Kentucky Wesleyan College Board of Trustees for more than 20 years, and both of the Schertzingers are members of the KWC's President's Circle, Minerva Society and Heritage Society. They have both been volunteers for the athletics department. They were inducted into the KWC Alumni Hall of Fame in 2019.
  The Panther Room in the Activity Center is a space to be used by students and community members for gatherings, as well as rehearsal and practice space for the theater department, choir, Panther wrestling and Campus Ministries events. Most recently, the Empty Bowls of Owensboro group hosted its annual soup day fundraiser in the facility.
  KWC President Thomas Mitzel said school officials and students are humbled and thankful to the Schertzingers for their continued investment in KWC students and the campus.
  "They have been generous beyond measure throughout the years and have shown true commitment as loyal alumni of KWC," he said. "The Panther Room is a space that has and will continue to be enjoyed and used for multiple purposes by internal and external audiences."