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The Acierno Arena of the Bob Carpenter Center was transformed into a festive ballroom
to host the campaign kickoff celebration, catered by ARAMARK.
At Delaware, we are justifiably proud of our history, stretching back as it does to our country's forefathers.
We take equal pride in the accomplishments of students and alumni. The singing of the national anthem by Derek Goodman prompts me to tell you that one of our graduates, Suzanne Thomassen-Krauss, a member of the Class of 1982, is now leading the team at work in our nation's Capital restoring the original Star Spangled Banner, the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key. She is working to stabilize this American treasure, which is very fragile. This $18-million-dollar project is the largest single textile conservation project ever to be undertaken by any museum.
I will tell you that one of the special pleasures of being a University president is celebrating the accomplishments of members of the campus community.
The invitation you received for tonight's event identified it as a celebration. And, that's exactly what it is-an opportunity for us to celebrate where we've been, where we are and where we can and want to be and, importantly-to celebrate the University's good fortune in having wonderful friends like you. We thank you for being here to celebrate all that's been accomplished at the University of Delaware with your help.
Gathered here tonight are many of UD's most generous benefactors. You join others who have made a difference for the University of Delaware. Individuals whose names echo across our campus still: H. Fletcher Brown, P.S. du Pont and H. Rodney Sharp.
It's been written that H. Rodney Sharp's dreams for his alma mater "sprang out of his sense of loyalty." And former UD President Walter Hullihen once remarked that loyalty is "just about the loftiest emotion in the mind of man."
We're here tonight to invite you to evidence your loyalty to your University as we take a giant step toward securing its future. We take this step with great confidence that our cause is good and that you and our other friends will help us succeed.
Building on its 255-year heritage, UD has emerged in the 1990s as one of the nation's brightest stars among institutions of higher learning.
On the threshold of the new millennium, we have positioned the University of Delaware so that our successors will be able to achieve an even greater level of preeminence in the 21st century. The future of the University of Delaware is, indeed, a brilliant one.
I will take a few minutes to describe some highlights in the progress we have made thus far at UD and then give a hint of what we see of the incredible opportunities ahead.
When I came to the University of Delaware in 1990, I found a faculty and staff eager to set about getting UD's house in order. We soon, thereafter, established priorities for the institution, priorities that have guided us for the entire decade.
We have made major strides in
So, tonight, I come to you to tell you that we have put our house in order. In fact, we have made tremendous progress on all of these areas over the past eight years. Let me assure you: The University of Delaware is taking care of business.
By the turn of the century, we will have completed 22 major, new facilities, at a cost of approximately $150 million. By the decade of the '90s, we will have also overcome nearly $250 million worth of "deferred maintenance" problems. Our investment in the University's physical plant during the 1990s will total approximately $400 million, or about 40 percent of the replacement value of our campus at the beginning of this decade.
In the same time period, University-sponsored support for student scholarships has more than doubled. Scholarships for our students will continue to be a very high priority issue. We want good students at the University of Delaware, and we want no deserving students to be disqualified by reason of inability to afford education.
And, external support for UD research has doubled since 1990. We are rightly very proud of the many and varied scholarly attainments of our faculty.
A technological transformation and a stronger focus on students have created a learning environment capable of producing two Rhodes scholars within the past several years.
The complete technological makeover at UD required reengineering every office, every laboratory, every library and every student space on five different campuses. Throughout that process, we viewed technology as a utility with access as simple and easy as flipping a light switch-available everywhere and free to the end user: The students, faculty and staff whose programs and projects require these new resources.
The results have been worth the effort. The technological transformation has exceeded even our most optimistic predictions, dramatically enhancing recruitment of both students and faculty and making possible the reduction of administrative costs.
I have recently returned from a quick trip to England, where I spoke to a consortium of universities that were studying the reduction of administrative costs. I was invited because in their research, they identified the University of Delaware as the institution of higher education in the world that has done the most effective job of reducing administrative costs.
While we've been busy reinventing UD as "The Technology University," our faculty also has gained-and this is so very important-a strong and well-deserved national reputation for excellence in teaching. With consistent support from administrators, a handful of pioneering UD educators began several years ago to transform undergraduate education on our campus.
By any measure, they have succeeded. For example, when the much-publicized Carnegie Foundation report was released earlier this year, it included harsh criticism for many of the country's 125 major research institutions-but not for UD. Indeed, UD was among only five institutions that the Carnegie Foundation report commended for "making research-based learning the standard."
Within the past two years, the campuswide effort to improve undergraduate education has also been recognized twice by the National Science Foundation-in the form of two, large grants and the selection of UD as one of the 10 elite institutions demonstrating "bold leadership" in classrooms.
These major accomplishments reinforce Delaware's standing as one of the nation's best teaching and learning universities.
As I stand before you tonight, I assure you that UD's most pressing problems have been addressed.
As I stand before you tonight, I assure you that the University of Delaware well deserves its recent ranking as one of our nation's top 25 publicly assisted universities.
It is interesting to observe how the University's progress in the 1990s is being perceived. We know, for example, from a survey conducted by UCLA that our faculty has far higher morale than is now typically the case. We know that 82 percent of our non-faculty employees have agreed or strongly agreed with the proposition that the University cares about them as individuals.
And, we know from participation in the national Student Satisfaction Survey that current UD students like their experience much more than was earlier the case and a whole lot more than students elsewhere like their experiences at their institutions.
The University of Delaware Marching Band's appearance was a surprise for the guests.
The Princeton Review also says the UD faculty are "enthusiastic" and "very accessible." They also describe our institution as "absolutely the most gorgeous campus anywhere."
The Fiske Guide to Colleges begins its commentary on UD by stating, "If you're looking for an all-American, traditional college experience, take a gander at the University of Delaware. The school, founded in 1743, has all that the traditional college portrait entails: solid academics, rowdy athletic traditions, beauty and all."
The Fiske Guide describes the Honors Program as "outstanding." "Outstanding" is also the word that the guide uses to describe UD's faculty.
Barron's Best Buys in College Education calls the UD faculty "great" and the University a "quadruple header," this last a reference to our institution's status as land-grant, sea-grant, space-grant and urban-grant.
Barron's also cites the University's "blue-chip facilities" that "match the quality of instruction." Finally, Barron's cites the University's "low cost, usable education" and our wonderful geographic location halfway between Baltimore and Philadelphia and halfway between New York and Washington.
We appreciate the compliments and the recognitions that the University has recently received. We view them as indicators that we are poised to achieve the next level of greatness-a level perhaps unimaginable to our founder, Francis Alison, and the first 10 young men who entered his classroom in the 18th century.
It has been said that the future belongs to those who dare. My challenge to you tonight is to have you join the University in meeting the promise of the future.
Noted Delaware historian John A. Munroe wrote in his 1986 history of the University that "there should be no end to the challenges." Dr. Munroe was right. But our challenges are not challenges of adversity but the challenges of opportunity.
Now, I want to talk to you very directly about philanthropy and our hope that you and many others will participate in making our very fine institution a still better one. To begin, I will call your attention to the fact that philanthropy is a curiously American tradition. Some say that the willingness to assist, the willingness to give, is a defining trait of being an American. I like the notion that Americans are more caring than others.
Second, although philanthropy is a defining American tradition, only special and caring individuals are themselves philanthropic.
Winston Churchill once said, "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." I think that it is very true that the satisfaction from helping a good cause succeed is, in itself, a wonderful reward.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have set our Campaign for Delaware goal at $225 million, to be raised by October 2, 2003.
Is $225 million an aggressive goal for the University of Delaware?
Recognizing that a state university raises most of its funds within the state's boundaries, then it needs to be noted that our $225 million campaign, on a per capita basis, is the largest capital campaign by a public university in the history of this country.
Is ours an aggressive goal? You bet it is.
Am I confident about our ability to meet it? You bet I am.
Of course, our five-year campaign isn't really about dollars and cents. It's really about how such support will provide added ability to improve our University.
So, I'd like you to share in our vision of the University in the year 2003-a vision that will be made possible as a result of the Campaign for Delaware.
The University Cheerleaders gave a spirited performance as part of the program finale.
We're talking about a University where our faculty and staff are compensated at a level above the median of the best public and private institutions in our region.
We're talking about a stronger faculty that includes a number of endowed professorships to recognize outstanding scholars and teachers.
We're talking about a significant increase in scholarships and internships for undergraduate students.
We're talking about an increase in the educational abilities of our entering undergraduate and graduate students.
We're talking about a fully renovated campus. All academic facilities, all recreational and athletic facilities and all residence halls will be modern, well-maintained and supportive of the current learning environment.
We're talking about a significant increase in the University's endowment. If the stock markets perform as they have historically, an endowment of more than $1 billion is now within our reach. And, yes, I did say, one billion dollars.
We're talking about maintaining the pre-eminence of our Library. We are proud that Morris Library has advanced well beyond being a mere repository for books and journals and that it is now a world leader in information retrieval, making information from throughout the world accessible to our students and faculty at their desktops. We are also mindful of the fact that the University's libraries serve many patrons from beyond our campus and many researchers employed by local corporations.
At a press conference Oct. 1 announcing The Campaign for Delaware are
(from left) Provost Mel Schiavelli, President David P. Roselle
and Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Marion Peavey.
Ultimately, what all these goals come down to is People. In an increasingly complex world, young people look more than ever before to faculty role models for guidance and direction. We're very fortunate to count among our faculty a number of outstanding mentors. There is no great University that has anything other than a great faculty and staff.
There are many stories that I could tell you about UD faculty members who have gone far further than an extra mile to help our students. One story that comes to mind is one that involves Don Puglisi. A few years ago, when MBNA very generously funded a named professorship for the College of Business and Economics, Dr. Puglisi was selected to be the honoree. He, in turn, decided to forego the accompanying stipend and to, instead, contribute that amount to a scholarship to memorialize his father. This wonderfully generous act is only representative of the many efforts our faculty and staff make to assist our students.
An important side effect of our Campaign for Delaware will be a requisite raising of awareness about the work of the University, its faculty and students. We look forward to new opportunities to tell our story to alumni, to friends and to friends-to-be. And, as you can see, it is a very good story to tell.
* * *
As we set off on this campaign together, I want to again visit the notion of Americans being caring.
Alexis de Tocqueville was a French social philosopher and his observations more than a century ago on the American character still hold surprising relevance. He described a curiously American phenomenon with these words: "These Americans are peculiar people. If, in a local community, a citizen becomes aware of a human need which is not being met, he thereupon discusses the situation with his neighbors. Suddenly, a committee comes into existence. The committee thereupon begins to operate on behalf of the need and a new community function is established. It is like watching a miracle...."
Another quote comes to mind, this one from an ancient Greek philosopher, who said, "Be gracious to all, but choose the best to be your friends."
Holding those two thoughts, I am pleased to tell you that four very special friends have formed a committee to help us with the Campaign for Delaware. I am greatly honored that they will serve as national campaign co-chairs. They are:
There's been a lot of talk tonight about numbers and dollars and cents. Please remember that at the heart of all our efforts is the important task of preparing and producing tomorrow's leaders. We want to prepare students for their first job-as well as their third and fourth careers.
Students like Rhodes scholar Douglas Mauro de Lorenzo, who spent the past summer volunteering at an African
orphanage, hold within them the power to change our world for the better.
Chuck Lewis, former CBS journalist who founded the Center for Public Integrity, says UD Alumni Distinguished Professor Jim Soles helped provide him with the skills he needed to win this year one of the MacArthur Foundation "genius" awards.
It was President Woodrow Wilson who said: "We grow great by dreams."
You've heard tonight and will hear more in the days ahead about our dreams for the University of Delaware. With your help, let me promise you, we will make them come true. After all, this institution helped many of you achieve your own, did it not?
"For unto whomsoever much is given, much shall be required."
Those words from our first teacher-the Rev. Francis Alison-will, we hope, give you something to think and talk about tonight and in the days ahead.
Remember what a rich legacy the University of Delaware has. If you ever doubted it, consider this: Two direct descendants of George Read, from Dr. Alison's first class, are currently undergraduates at Delaware.
One final message, and this one is for Rev. Francis Alison: "Rest easy tonight, Dr. Alison. Your institution is in good hands. And, the future looks very, very bright indeed!"
Photo by Robert Cohen
