Rich histories lie behind Kauffman, Selleck

As students trot across the grass in front of the Kauffman Center or wait in line for the buffet-style dining at the Selleck Quadrangle, most probably aren't thinking about the history behind these two popular residence halls.

Kauffman, across from the Nebraska Union, houses students in the J.D. Edwards Honors Program, but many students also have classes in this luxurious building.

A donation by C. Edward and Carole McVaney prompted officials to name the building after Carole's mother, Esther Kauffman, according to the Kauffman booklet for the J.D. Edwards students.

C. Edward McVaney, Kauffman's son-in-law, donated the money that started the J.D. Edwards Honor Program, along with the money that was used to build the Kauffman Center, said Glen Schumann, associate director of housing facilities operations.

Kauffman was a Nebraska native who had five children, all of whom attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The McVaneys now live in Denver, where C. Edward McVaney owns a computer business that he started, Schumann said. Kauffman's four other children still live in Lincoln.

The Selleck Quadrangle was named in 1980 after John Selleck, a former UNL chancellor from 1950 to 1951, said Robert Knoll, a UNL historian.

"He was not an academic, but he was a very nice man," Knoll said of his experiences with Selleck.

Selleck graduated from UNL in 1912 with an engineering degree, according to the UNL Libraries Archives and Special Collections.