Ohio University President Roderick McDavis announced Tuesday that more than $450 million has been raised as part of OU’s Promise Lives Campaign — surpassing its goal 14 months ahead of schedule.
The campaign, which started in July 2007, was met with skepticism after its launch, university officials said. OU's bicentennial campaign, which raised $221 million between 2000 and 2004, was seen as a limit for how much the university could raise privately, McDavis said.
As of Tuesday’s announcement, "$450,867,841 to the penny" has been raised from nearly 75,000 donors consisting of students, faculty, alumni and friends of the university, the President said.
Reaching the goal was "personal" for McDavis, who said raising a historic amount of money for the university was a key goal for him when he came to OU in 2004.
The Promise campaign ends June 30, 2015; it started in July 2007. The university will continue to fundraise until the end date.
“The most important goal as we go forward in the next 14 months is to raise money for our endowments,” McDavis said. “At the very top of that list is scholarships.”
A $2 million donation from Distinguished Professor and Goll-Ohio Eminent Scholar John Kopchick and Assistant Dean of Students Charlene Kopchick put the campaign over its goal.
“We’ve been very fortunate here and part of our idea was to give something back to OU,” John Kopchick said. Their money will go to "support the university's programs in molecular and cellular biology," McDavis said.
A breakdown of goals the campaign has met include: committing more than $100 million for capital projects, $105 million in support for faculty and $50 million for academic and student programs.
"In many cases, scholarships are the determining factor to whether a promising student will or will not pursue an education,” McDavis said.
In addition, OU’s $75 million scholarship investment program, which was launched last June and is separate from the $450 million campaign, has raised more than $1.9 million from about 200 donors.
The program matches each donor dollar with 50 cents from the university. That matching brings the total raised toward the $75 million goal to $2.85 million in new endowment funds for scholarships.
Therefore, the $75 million goal — deemed "Invest OHIO" — will be met with $50 million in donations and $25 million in university funds. OU aims to raise the total amount over the next seven years.
The $450 million donated is the most money OU has ever raised in a single campaign, McDavis said.
“There are truly few special moments in the life of a university,” McDavis said of reaching the campaign’s goal. “This is one of them.”
db794812@ohio.edu
@dinaivey
