PULLMAN, Wash. – A community celebration of Washington State University’s successful $1 billion fundraising campaign will be Friday, Sept. 18, on Terrell Mall and the Library Rooftop on the Pullman campus. A barbecue for the first 1,200 guests will begin at 11:30 a.m., followed by a program at 12:30 p.m.
The celebration will be webcast live 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., at http://campaign.wsu.edu.
Throughout the week, banners, signs and exhibits on the mall have highlighted the impacts of WSU’s teaching, research and service and the role philanthropy plays to make them better.
“The impact of this campaign will be felt for generations,” said John Gardner, vice president of University Advancement and CEO of the WSU Foundation. “Raising $1 billion is a significant achievement. It has put WSU into an elite group of higher education institutions, and we’ve only just begun.”
The Campaign for Washington State University: Because the World Needs Big Ideas “is bigger than any one donor or any one gift,” said Scott Carson, WSU regent. “It is about powering the big ideas that transform lives – the lives of our students, the citizens of our state and the countless beneficiaries of WSU’s remarkable teaching, research and outreach around the globe.”
Learn more at https://foundation.wsu.edu/campaign/about/.
A monumental effort
Gifts large and small combined to fund WSU’s support of students, higher-education access, faculty, research, learning spaces and outreach.
The campaign surpassed its $1 billion goal six months ahead of schedule on its way to $1,065,091,919 in private support, which included:
• More than $331 million from alumni
• $195 million from students, parents, faculty, staff and non-alumni
• $380 million from granting agencies
• Nearly $96 million from corporations
• $158 million from foundations and other organizations
The five largest commitments in WSU history were made during the campaign. These included gifts of $26 million and $25 million from Paul G. Allen and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation respectively to support international teaching and outreach and to fund construction of WSU’s Center for Global Animal Health, named in Allen’s honor.
Washington’s tree fruit industry made commitments totaling more than $32 million for tree fruit research and industry outreach.
The Gene and Linda Voiland School for Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering has become one of the leading programs in the nation, thanks to a $17 million commitment from the Voilands in 2008.
In January, representatives from WSU Tri-Cities and Kadlec Regional Medical Center announced a landmark $18 million gift to support the WSU Tri-Cities College of Nursing, the largest single gift in WSU Tri-Cities history.
Support for learning, research, outreach
The campaign was not just about big gifts, though. Since July 2006, more than 206,250 individual donors and industry partners made nearly 820,000 gifts, grants, revocable or other commitments in support of WSU students, faculty, research and outreach and to leverage the university’s impact across the state and around the world.
Students and access to higher education were top priorities, and more than $338 million was raised to support scholarships and graduate fellowships.
Nearly $171 million was designated to create endowments that generate perpetual funding to support WSU’s students, faculty, research and programs. Thirty-three new endowed faculty positions were established, enhancing WSU’s ability to attract and retain the best teachers and researchers.
Nearly $52 million was committed to construction of spaces where students and faculty can learn, discover and compete. Dozens of construction and renovation projects in Pullman and at WSU campuses, extension and research locations across the state were funded at least in part by private support during the campaign.
Contact:
Trevor Durham, WSU Foundation, 509-335-2093, tdurham@wsu.edu