Western receives $2 Million Gift to Support Creation of Student Success Center

Western wasn’t on Ty Petway’s radar when he found a tri-fold pamphlet advertising what was then Western State College in his friend’s Clemson University dorm room. “It was like something you’d find at a truck stop,” he said. But that pamphlet, and the fact that his friend was transferring to Western, was all it took for Petway to apply.

At first, his parents weren’t sure it was a good idea. But once they learned he’d already been accepted, his father agreed to take a closer look. “We flew into Denver, drove over, took the tour, and explored Gunnison,” Petway remembers. “I said, ‘This is it. This is where I want to be.’” His dad agreed: Western was a perfect fit.

More than 30 years later, Petway is now retired and giving back to the university that helped him find his footing. In September, he pledged $2 million to support a Student Success Center as part of the planned $45 million renovation of Western Colorado University’s Leslie J. Savage Library.

The plan will centralize key services like the Registrar, Career Services, Dis/Ability Services, and Financial Aid, all in one place. For Petway, who has dyslexia, it’s the kind of place he would have wanted to find when he got to Western.

“I just want students to have a place on campus where they’re supported and set up for success,” he said. “A place where they can get any kind of help they need.”

Student First, Forward Facing

The library renovation will bring long-overdue upgrades to a building that has seen few improvements since it was built in 1963. In addition to the Student Success Center, the design includes modern study areas, improved accessibility, and infrastructure updates that reimagine the library space for an era of personal devices and digital resources.

Petway sees the project as both an essential upgrade and a symbol of Western’s focus on students.

“The Student Success Center gives Western something to present to incoming students and their parents,” he said. “It’s a place students can be supported from start to finish—whether they need help with academics, financial aid, or life on campus. It’s where someone is always available to lend a hand.”

Western’s President Brad Baca said Petway’s gift will create the kind of student-first environment that reflects Western’s desire to make every student feel welcome.

“Ty’s has demonstrated tremendous support for his alma mater over the years, and this most recent gift will have an impact for decades to come,” Baca said. “He’s helping us meet students where they are and giving them a dedicated space to find the help they need.”

A Personal Path

For Ty, finding help wasn’t always that easy. While his experience at Western was better than it was at his first college, where he got lost in lecture halls of 350 students, it still didn’t have all the resources Ty potentially needed. Fortunately, Western has always had faculty who care.

Ty grew up in the 1980s, when educators were just starting to give students with learning differences the attention they required to succeed. He attended a progressive high school that accepted his differences and respected his intelligence, teaching him how to learn. By the time he got to Western, he had the tools. He just needed the space and time.

At Western, he found an academic advisor who encouraged him to discuss his needs with his professors. He also found professors happy to listen to a student who was willing to advocate for himself.

“At Western, the professors know your name. They know if you skip a class … and they’ll call you out when you’re walking across campus. ‘Hey, where were you this morning? Everybody else was in class.’ That’s the beauty of Western.”

He also found a group of close friends whom he still texts every day, and a place that felt like home, even buying a house on Cranor Hill, which he checks on from time to time. He spent his summers in Gunnison and the weekends outside in the mountains with his friends, riding motorcycles, skiing, snowmobiling, and reveling in a landscape as far from his North Florida home as he could imagine.

In 1996, Ty returned home to run the family business with a degree in Business Administration and an experience that would shape him for a lifetime. Ty eventually bought the business in 2005.

Despite the time and distance, Western and Gunnison have never been far from his mind. He returns to Colorado whenever possible, often during elk season, for family vacations, or to see old friends. Since 2019, Ty and his wife, Lindsey, have donated over $1.3 million to support the campuses’ disability services program and the growth of the Office of Career Services at Western’s School of Business.

He’s looking forward to seeing the Student Success Center when the project is complete, and maybe a bit more after that. “My 14-year-old daughter is dead set on going to Western,” he said. “So I’ve given her the campus tour and I’ve shown her around Gunnison. We will see what happens.”