ST. JOSEPH, Minn., Dec. 8 (UPI) -- The College of Saint Benedict has renamed a campus auditorium after its benefactor was convicted in a huge Ponzi scheme, the Minnesota school said Tuesday.
The private Catholic college said on its Web site Tuesday it has changed the name of the Petters Auditorium at the Benedicta Arts Center to the Escher Auditorium in honor of the late Sister Firmin Escher. The nun was a member of Saint Benedict's Monastery and an emerita faculty member in the Music Department who died June 8.
The auditorium had been named after Minnesota businessman Tom Petters, who was convicted in a $3.65 billion fraud scheme by a federal jury last week. Petters, 52, was chairman of Petters Group Worldwide, whose holdings included Sun Country Airlines, Polaroid Corp. and Fingerhut.
The college didn't mention Petters in its announcement but said the decision to rename the auditorium was made in consultation with the Fred and Rosemary Petters family, which it described as cherished friends of the school.
In announcing his $3 million gift to the college in 2003, Petters said it would be "a wonderful honor for my parents and their life-long passion for the arts." His mother is a graduate of the school and his father graduated from nearby and affiliated Saint John's University. Other family members also are Saint Benedict's alumni.
