ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University alumni and longtime benefactors Robert J. and Helen H. Appel have committed $15 million to support the second phase of the university's Residential Initiative, a new living and learning environment for upper-level students on West Campus, Cornell President Hunter Rawlings announced recently.

The $200 million West Campus initiative, developed through a consultative process involving faculty, students and staff, will build on the successful North Campus project, a living- and learning-based residential community for freshmen that opened last fall.

"This generous gift from Bob and Helen Appel is a major milestone for the Residential Initiative, which allows us to move ahead vigorously with our plans for West Campus," Rawlings said in announcing the gift to friends of the university Jan. 23. "It also provides us with the opportunity to name the Community Commons -- one of the newest, most beautiful, and most student-oriented spaces on North Campus -- in their honor. The Community Commons speaks eloquently of Bob and Helen's commitment to Cornell and its students, and I am delighted that they have given us permission to name the building in their honor in recognition of their gift."

The Community Commons, completed last summer, houses the North Star Eatery, a café named Ezra's, a copy center and school-supply store, a 3,200 square-foot, state-of-the-art fitness center, a multipurpose room, and private meeting and dining areas that can be reserved for dinner discussions among faculty and students.

The West Campus initiative, led by Vice Provost Isaac Kramnick, the Richard J. Schwartz Professor of Government, will provide five residential houses for upper-class students and live-in faculty mentorsn with in-house dining and a common community recreation center. The houses will emphasize formal and informal interaction with faculty members, opportunities for personal and intellectual growth, self-governance, social and cultural programming, privacy and independence. Construction is expected to begin in spring 2003 and be phased in over six to eight years."My wife and I have a renewed interest in campus life at Cornell," Appel said. "After many years of supporting academics, the events of Sept. 11 have led us to reappraise the importance of the total living and learning experience. At the same time, we have been greatly impressed with the new freshman campus and the profound and positive impact it has had on the university. Plans for the West Campus are equally exciting, and we hope we have added to the momentum of this capital campaign."

Robert Appel, who graduated from Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences in 1953, is a managing partner and former member of the executive committee at Neuberger Berman, an investment and securities brokerage firm in New York City. He is a trustee of the Leavitt Foundation, a trustee of Beth Israel Hospital and a director of the 92nd Street YMHA in New York City.

Helen Appel graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1955. She is a former high school teacher and an avid historian. For more than 20 years, she has been teaching world and American history in an adult-education program at Cumberland School in the Great Neck, N.Y., school system. She also serves on the board of the Parker Geriatric Institute.

Long active in Cornell matters, especially those involving undergraduate students, Robert Appel is a trustee fellow and currently serves as chairman of the Investment Committee. The Appels are both Presidential Councillors and national Tower Club co-chairs. They are co-founders of the Robinson-Appel Humanitarian Awards, which honor students who demonstrate humanitarian values and service. They endowed the Robert J. Appel Professorship in Molecular and Cell Biology and the Robert J. Appel Cornell Tradition Fellowship. They endowed the Robert and Helen Appel Fellowships for Humanists and Social Scientists to recognize faculty members in these fields who demonstrate excellence in teaching and show great promise as scholars. The Appels also were active in the university's Lincoln Hall Renaissance campaign, among many others.

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