UDMessenger

Volume 13, Number 4, 2005


To make an end is to make a beginning.

Campaign for Delaware

Final numbers tell the story of drive's remarkable success

 The Campaign for Delaware,  the University of Delaware’s first comprehensive fund-raising effort, has concluded, with donations exceeding $431 million—more than $206 million above the initial goal.

The University announced the official end of The Campaign and the final tally of gifts and pledges, which totaled $431,480,796. When the fund-raising drive was launched in October 1998, the goal was set at $225 million over the course of a five-year effort. By the end of 2000, donations already had surpassed that target amount, and The Campaign continued. After five years, with gifts approaching $400 million, the University added a sixth-year “victory lap,” to include support for the construction of a new Center for the Arts.

“Our original goal of $225 million seemed like a stretch at the time,” UD President David P. Roselle said. “As has been observed, we have been much better at fund raising than at making predictions. We have received remarkable support from our many friends, alumni, employees, parents and current students, and their generosity has more than realized our high hopes for The Campaign.

“If I were summing up the success of The Campaign, I’d say that our friends exceeded our expectations. The Center for the Arts is just one example: We simply would not be constructing it, except for their generosity.”

Roselle noted that state universities raise most of their money from within the state. Delaware’s small population meant that even the initial goal of $225 million, on a per-person basis, represented the most ambitious fund-raising drive in the history of public education. To receive total gifts of nearly double that amount, he said, was very gratifying.

The University’s success has attracted wider notice. The February issue of University Business magazine included an article about fund raising at public universities, in which it suggested that other institutions “look to the University of Delaware for pointers” in conducting similar campaigns.

As a result of the fund-raising effort, Roselle said, the University has developed a substantially larger base of donor support, with a notable increase in both gifts and participation. More than 59,000 donors contributed to The Campaign, with many of them making multiple gifts. The total number of donations through June 30 was 346,377. The average annual amount received—including only gifts, not pledges of future donations—between the 2000 and 2005 fiscal years was $42,745,140.

In addition, over the course of The Campaign, the number of individuals contributing at least $1,000 a year (known as the Delaware Diamonds Society) has risen from less than 850 to the current number of 2,745; the number of employees donating to the University has grown from 566 to 852; and the alumni and friends who have included UD in their estate plans (the Legacy Society) has increased from 165 to 442.

During the drive, UD’s endowment and other investments reached a significant milestone of $1 billion. Today, that total stands at $1.2 billion. These funds are professionally managed and held for the long term in a variety of investments. Included are gifts earmarked for specific programs or unrestricted, as determined by the donors.

“The endowment is a very important part of the University’s financial structure,” David Hollowell, executive vice president and University treasurer, said. “It not only assists the University in maintaining excellent academic programs but also reduces our dependency on tuition revenue.”

Not only was the University’s overall fund-raising goal far exceeded by donations, but all of the University’s seven colleges and the Intercollegiate Athletics Program surpassed their individual targets as well. The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources received gifts and pledges totaling 185 percent of its original goal; College of Arts and Sciences, 170 percent; Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, 186 percent; College of Engineering, 105 percent; College of Health Sciences, 125 percent; College of Human Services, Education and Public Policy, 164 percent; College of Marine Studies, 160 percent; and the Athletics Program, 209 percent.

From the beginning, The Campaign also targeted key areas for funding across the University: academic support, through undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships, discovery-based learning initiatives and improved library facilities; faculty support, through endowed chairs and professorships; enhanced facilities and equipment; and expendable, noncapital gifts, which give the institution flexibility to meet challenges and to benefit from opportunities as they arise.

In all four areas, donations exceeded the goals, with the greatest support coming in the form of expendable, noncapital gifts—which totaled $155,842,803, more than three times the $50 million target set by The Campaign.

Academic support

The Campaign for Delaware received $131,242,616 in donations for academic support, 146 percent of its initial goal of $90 million. The bulk of these monies fund scholarships, enabling the University to provide significant financial support to those students who are least able to pay for higher education. In addition to need-based assistance, other scholarship funds are available based on academic merit, enhancing UD’s ability to attract top-quality students.

In the past 10 years, financial aid at the University has grown at twice the rate of annual tuition increases. Financial aid for undergraduates totals $107 million, compared with slightly more than $60 million in the 1997 fiscal year. For graduate students, fellowships and other financial assistance now amounts to $53 million a year.

Gifts for academic support have come from numerous sources, including many alumni. Robert R. Davis, University vice president for development and alumni relations, said alumni donors often cite similar reasons for donating to support scholarships.

“A number of people have come forward who themselves benefited from scholarships and programs at the University,” Davis said. “We’ve heard many times throughout The Campaign that people want to give back to the institution.”

A few examples include a gift from Ann Nields Garstin, a Sarah Lawrence College graduate who took part in a 1929 UD study-abroad program and left a $10 million bequest from her estate to the John P. Nields Scholarship Fund; two scholarships established by Ernest and Margaret Zimmerman of Dover, Del., to honor their children, who both are alumni; and a fellowship to support a married engineering graduate student, created by a gift from alumni Robert L. Richards Jr. and Joyce Hilty Richards. And, the UD Alumni Association committed $1.3 million to support a merit-based scholarship program that gives preference to children of alumni.

In addition to gifts from alumni, scholarships have been established by such faculty members as Donald Puglisi, MBNA America Professor Emeritus of Business, who established the John F. Puglisi Scholarship in honor of his father, initially funding it with the stipend he received when he became a named professor.

Foundations and corporate friends of the University have made donations to finance scholarships and other academic programs. A few examples are gifts from MBNA America, a major benefactor to The Campaign in many areas, including $15 million for scholarship support; scholarship support from Bank One and Wachovia to the Fortune program for underrepresented students in the Lerner College; and a gift from ARAMARK that includes support for undergraduate scholarships.

And, a variety of important, noncash gifts have enhanced the University’s collections and related scholarship. Atlanta art collector Paul R. Jones donated his unmatched collection of works by African-American artists as a valuable resource for students, faculty and the community. Major collections of literary papers and related items—involving American expatriate writer and composer Paul Bowles and Irish author and playwright Samuel Beckett, for example—have been given to the University Library during the course of The Campaign.

Faculty support

In 1997, UD had 21 endowed faculty positions. By late 2004, the number had grown to 105 professorships and chairs, with an average endowment of about $600,000 each. The income from such endowments is used to support salaries and scholarly activities, and it enables the University to attract and reward outstanding faculty members.

The Campaign, which set a goal of raising $35 million for such faculty support, received total donations of $36,757, 005, or 105 percent of the original target. The endowments have greatly benefited the overall quality of the University, Roselle said.

“There is no great university without a great faculty,” he said. “Endowed positions help us recruit and retain leading professors, thus deepening our pool of instructional and research talent.”

“The endowed professors define what excellence means in teaching, research and service,” Provost Dan Rich said. “They serve as a model for high standards.”

A significant milestone was reached in October 2004, with the establishment of the 100th endowed position, the Kathleen and David Hollowell Professorship, which recognizes a faculty member who excels in teaching, research and service in the area of secondary school mathematics. Kathleen Hollowell is director of the University’s Mathematics and Science Education Resource Center, and David Hollowell is UD executive vice president and treasurer.

A few of the endowed positions are the Louis L. Redding Chair for the Study of Law and Public Policy, established with donations from numerous groups and individuals and honoring the distinguished civil rights attorney who helped desegregate Delaware’s schools; the Edgar S. Woolard Jr. Chair of Corporate Governance, created with gifts from friends and colleagues of the former CEO and chairman of the DuPont Co.; and the Robert Edelsohn Chair in Disabilities Studies, established by Robert Edelsohn’s parents, Lanny and Micki Edelsohn.

Endowed positions created by alumni include the L. Sandra [Class of 1987] and Bruce L. Hammonds Professorship in Teacher Education and the William L. Friend [master’s degree, Class of 1958] Professorship in Chemical Engineering. In 2003, alumna Jeanne Buxbaum, who earned her MBA degree at UD in 1974, left a bequest of more than $4 million to the College of Health Sciences for an endowed chair and an endowed scholarship fund.

Also, the Gore family, of W.L. Gore & Associates, endowed three named professorships in chemical engineering; the Unidel Foundation gave $10 million for faculty chairs; and ARAMARK endowed a chair in the Department of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management. 

Facilities and equipment

The success of The Campaign also has visibly transformed the UD campus, with $107,638,372 raised for facilities and equipment, more than double (215 percent) the initial goal of $50 million for that purpose.

During the fund-raising effort, the original plan for The Green has been completed, with the construction of Gore Hall and an addition to and renovation of P.S. du Pont Hall. Gore Hall is a $17.5 million classroom building funded by a gifts from Robert W. Gore (Class of 1959), Sarah I. Gore (master’s degree, Class of 1976) and the late Genevieve W. Gore.

Directly across The Green from Gore Hall is Du Pont Hall, home of the College of Engineering, which houses leading-edge laboratories and equipment. Its expansion and renovation was supported by gifts including $10 million from the Longwood Foundation and $2 million from the Crystal Trust.

Another major construction project was Alfred Lerner Hall, a $9.1 million building financed in part by a $2.5 million gift from MBNA America and $1 million from benefactor Chaplin Tyler.

At the UD athletics complex, construction of the $3.3 million state-of-the-art Fred P. Rullo Jr. Stadium has provided a modern, 2,000-seat facility for field hockey and men’s and women’s lacrosse. The stadium was supported by a $1 million gift from Rullo (Class of 1963) and his family.

Other recent projects include the Melva Guthrie Atrium in Morris Library, named for the benefactor who left a $6 million bequest, and a new research and education center in Georgetown, Del., supported by a $2 million donation from former Delaware Gov. Elbert N. Carvel, who died this year, and his wife, Ann.           

The University also has benefited from donations for equipment, ranging from an electron microscope, purchased by the College of Engineering through a $1 million donation from the W.M. Keck Foundation, to the Jefferson Pipe Organ, a gift from Edward G. and Naomi L. “Wunnie” Jefferson that is housed in the Jefferson Music Gallery of Bayard Sharp Hall.

During the additional year of The Campaign, about $30 million was committed toward the construction of the Center for the Arts, including a $10 million gift from the Unidel Foundation and a $5 million pledge from the MBNA Foundation. The building, now under construction next to the Amy E. du Pont Music Building, will house performance and rehearsal space for the Department of Music and the Professional Theatre Training Program. It also will contain individual practice rooms, offices and a rehearsal room large enough to accommodate the 350-member UD Marching Band.

In reviewing the success of The Campaign, Roselle said it has positioned the University for the future, with a strong faculty, high-achieving students, enhanced physical facilities and a robust endowment that will continue to grow. He said donors gave generously because they recognized the already high quality of UD and wanted to help it do even more.

“By whatever measure you use, The Campaign for Delaware comes out a winner,” he said. “We have demonstrated that, thanks to our many friends who believe strongly in the institution and want to help it, we can deliver a big success. Once a university has demonstrated that, the opportunities for even bigger successes in the future are assured.”