A historic gift from Jane Creamer Sullivan, KLN ’70, will lead to the creation of the Jane Creamer Sullivan and Thomas J. Sullivan Honors College, opening in fall 2027.

Jane Creamer Sullivan, KLN ’70, is not shy when it comes to sharing her feelings about the word “transformational.” 

“Ugh, I hate that word. David Boardman has heard me on that subject,” Sullivan says, referring to her longtime friend and dean of Klein College of Media and Communication and chief strategy officer. Boardman also recently served as interim provost.

“Someone will make a philanthropic gift to spruce up a room, and then they will call it transformational. My response has always been, ‘No, that is not a transformation, it’s just a nice thing.’”

She pauses, takes a breath and then reflects on her own recent act of philanthropy, which will do far more than just spruce up a room. A gift from Sullivan—one of the largest in Temple University’s history—will lead to the creation of the Jane Creamer Sullivan and Thomas J. Sullivan Honors College, opening in fall 2027.

“I’m still coming to terms with what this will mean for Temple,” she admits. “This is going to make a difference in the lives of so many young people, and it will impact generations. It truly is transformational. It is one of the few times that I will use that word as a descriptor.”

A direct reflection of Forward With Purpose

Both Sullivan’s gift to Temple and the establishment of the new Honors college were approved by the university’s Board of Trustees in its meeting in April. The announcement came less than three months after the university unveiled its strategic plan, Forward with Purpose.

While the plan has been built around three priorities, its keystone priority is Student Success. Arguably, no singular moment has illustrated the importance of that priority quite like Sullivan’s historic commitment.

“We have always had a strong Honors Program, but this gift is key in helping raise Temple’s national profile, allowing us to further recruit students with high potential and create a high-impact Honors college that will be distinctly Temple,” Temple President John Fry says. “I fully expect that the Sullivan Honors College will further position our university as a destination for high-performing high school students.”

Elizabeth Wentz, Temple’s new senior vice president and provost, further underscores the value of this opportunity.

“The Sullivan Honors College will build upon the strong foundation that is already in place with our Honors Program,” she says. “We are going to create an Honors experience that capitalizes on our location in this vibrant city and our deeply rooted public mission. It is going to make such a difference for students launching their careers.”

The establishment of the college is long overdue.

According to Neuber, Temple has long offered much of what can be found at a traditional honors college, but the program’s distinguishing feature is the way in which it emphasizes collaboration over competition. Previous Director Ruth Ost, who led Temple Honors for 26 years, introduced this theme, and Neuber continues to emphasize it. “When we talk to students, this is what they say they value most about their experience at Temple, and it’s what makes our Honors experience distinct. Cultivating a competition-free environment allows students up to be successful, and it releases the pressure valve,” Neuber says. “So many students have said to me that they thought Honors was going to be hyper competitive because that is what their high school experience was like, but that is not how Temple does Honors.”

Rather, Temple’s program embraces an approach that is shaped by the university’s strengths, values and character. These traits will be further emphasized once the Sullivan Honors College launches.

Currently, Temple’s Honors Program enrolls 2,112 undergraduate students, and some of the university’s most successful students have come from the program.

In recent years, Temple Honors students have garnered prestigious Fulbright, Goldwater and Truman scholarships. The university’s only Rhodes Scholar, Hazim Hardeman, KLN ’17, also came from the Honors Program.

“That is also part of why I was so inspired to support this cause,” Sullivan says. “When I was doing research, I could see how successful Temple’s Honors Program was, and I even saw it included in some rankings. That speaks to the work already being done here. But whether it’s ranking as first or 10th or whatever, I don’t want to measure the success of the Sullivan Honors College by that. I want to provide a truly excellent experience for students, which I think is happening now. We’re going to further enhance that.”

The right cause and the right donor

When Forward with Purpose was first unveiled, one of the first projects outlined within the plan was the eventual launch of an Honors college. The fact that it could come to fruition in less than three months speaks to how timing is often everything.

Sullivan has long been an engaged Klein alum. She serves as co-chair of the college’s Board of Visitors and has been one of the top sponsorship donors to that school’s annual Lew Klein Alumni in the Media Awards event. Her family ties to the university also run deep.

Her father, Robert H. Creamer, was a founder of Temple’s College of Engineering, where he worked from the late 1940s until his retirement in the early 1980s. Her husband, Thomas J. Sullivan, ENG ’95, was also Temple Made as he graduated from the College of Engineering and holds two patents.

Sullivan and her husband, who passed away in 2024, included Temple in their will, and knew they always wanted to give back to the university in a big way. While they had anticipated further supporting Klein, that changed once Boardman approached Jane Sullivan with the prospect of creating an Honors college.

Since the announcement in April, Sullivan has already spent considerable time getting involved with the Honors
Program. She visited during finals week, met with students and attended the program’s senior celebration.

“Jane is just the best,” Neuber says. “Our visions and goals are aligned in terms of what we want for our students. We are so happy that Jane, her name and her family will represent Honors here at Temple.”

Bryant Simon, Laura H. Carnell Professor of History and academic chair for the Honors Program, is equally excited about the partnership.

“She’s already been so involved, and she really threads the needle nicely in terms of how she is a partner,” Simon says. “While she has a clear vision for what she wants to accomplish, she also wants to listen. It is just really refreshing to work with someone like her.”

Preparing to launch

Over the next year, Sullivan, Neuber, Simon and the entire Honors staff will be working closely with faculty and staff across the university to get ready for the launch of the Sullivan Honors College in fall 2027.

While the college will continue to emphasize collaboration over competition, it will also embrace a flexible, place-based curriculum and an access-driven model. It will be defined by several key other features as well. Specifically, all Temple Honors students will receive a Discovery Grant, which will provide them with at least one high-impact experience—research, internship, civic engagement or study abroad.

Students will experience the city of Philadelphia as an Honors classroom, with the program offering credit-bearing, place-based courses and projects rooted in the city’s neighborhoods and institutions. All students will also be able to design their own Honors major, minor or concentration.

“As a retired journalist, I am a words person. I share Jane’s view on the word ‘transformational,’” Boardman says. “But, if there is ever a time where that word is appropriate, it is in this instance. This gift is truly going to have a transformational impact here at Temple. We are deeply grateful to Jane for creating a legacy here at Temple that will benefit students for generations to come.”

Temple Honors students have earned some of the nation’s most prestigious scholarships, including Hazim Hardeman, KLN ’17 (left), the university’s only Rhodes Scholar; Marcus Forst, CST ’19 (middle), Temple’s first Goldwater Scholar and Knight Hennessy Scholar; and Diana Tiburcio, ENG ’24, (right) a Goldwater Scholar.

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