Campbell Hall Donor Stories: The Porteous & Hamilton Families

By Brandi Stover & Melanie Brender

Three Spartan alumni siblings – Dave Porteous, Bill Porteous, and Ruth Porteous Hamilton – had often thought of ways they could honor their parents, who had attended Michigan State College between 1937-1942.

When the siblings learned of the project to renovate Campbell Hall into an Honors College living-learning community, they were immediately interested in helping to fund it because their parents – William and Mable Porteous – had met at Campbell Hall.

As a student, Mable lived in Campbell and worked in the residence hall cafeteria to help pay her room and board. William lived off campus in a fraternity but also worked in the Campbell cafeteria.

After working together for a year they fell in love. William proposed to Mable on a bench behind Campbell Hall, and in 1943 they were married at The People’s Church right across the street.

Years later, the three siblings all followed their parents’ footsteps to MSU. Now, together with their spouses and families, they have pledged $1 million to renovate the former cafeteria into what will be The Porteous Grand Hall. This new space will give future Honors College students a place to collaborate and build lasting connections, just like their parents did.

Spartan green runs deep in the veins of many MSU families, and the Porteous and Hamilton families are a great example.

When Ruth Porteous Hamilton attended MSU, not only was she in one of the inaugural classes of the Honors College, but she also lived in Campbell Hall just like her mother.

She met her husband, Tom (also in the Honors College), at MSU and got engaged on the same Campbell bench that her parents did. Ruth and Tom also married at The People’s Church.

“I was at Michigan State when the Honors College was first beginning,” Ruth said. “At that point, Campbell Hall was becoming such a special place.”

Ruth’s son, Cameron, didn’t attend MSU but the campus holds treasured Spartan memories spent with his family over the years. He surprised his relatives and flew into East Lansing for the recent renovation groundbreaking ceremony.

“You couldn’t have written a script in a better way to put all the things that mean something together with family, Michigan State, and education all in the same place,” Cameron said. “Celebrating this is something I am absolutely thrilled to be part of.”

Bill Porteous appreciates the importance of his family legacy at MSU and is proud to be honoring it in such a permanent manner.

“My parents met in Campbell Hall in the dining area. Now that area will be the new Grand Hall where people will have a chance to meet and gather. I think that for our family, it is a rare opportunity to name the place where your parents met,” Bill said.

Dave Porteous met his wife, Joan, when both were undergraduates in Wilson Hall. They have been donors as well as athletic season ticket holders for more than 40 years. In 1998, Dave was elected to the MSU Board of Trustees and was Board Chairman from 2003-2006.

Dave and Joan’s three children are all proud MSU alumni, making them third-generation Spartans. The day their youngest son got married on campus, he and his wife (also a Spartan) made sure to get a photo of themselves by the same bench outside of Campbell Hall.

“Michigan State provided the opportunity for our parents, for ourselves, and then for my children to be able to learn, to grow, to mature, and to really become not just Spartans, but members of society,” Dave said.

“There is nothing that encapsulates our parents’ passion for Michigan State, their passion for education, and their passion for family,” Dave said, “that as a family we are able to come together and provide this opportunity for a special naming and recognition of our parents.”

Thank you to Ruth and Tom Hamilton, Dave and Joan Porteous, Bill Porteous and Elizabeth Weber, Cameron Hamilton, and grandchildren of Mable and William Porteous for generously committing to fund this space. 

Click here to learn more about the Campbell Hall renovation and how to get involved.