Gala celebration marks beginning of
The Campaign For Delaware

An exterior illumination of The Campaign for Delaware logo-fireworks above Memorial Hall-
greeted guests as they arrived at the Bob Carpenter Center.

Mingling to the sounds of the Royal Palm Steel Band, directed by Harvey J. Price, music, some 400 supporters enjoyed a wide assortment of hors d'oeuvres prior to a four-course dinner.

The Taggart-Grycky Duo performed during dinner. The duo includes Christiaan Taggart on guitar and Eileen Grycky on flute.

University President David P. Roselle officially welcomed guests with a speech delivered in front of a black curtain glittering with tiny lights. On either side of the stage, giant television screens showed slides of the campus-a sneak preview of the new picture book of UD now in publication.

The goal for the Campaign for Delaware is set at $225 million, to be raised by Oct. 2, 2003, the president said. Recognizing that a state university raises most of its funds within the state, the $225 million campaign, on a per capita basis, is the largest capital campaign ever undertaken by a public university, he said.

"Of course, our five-year campaign isn't really about dollars and cents," President Roselle said. "It's really about how such support will provide added ability to improve our University and offer opportunities."

Goals that are part of the campaign's vision include

• increased alumni support,

• improved compensation for faculty and staff,

• stronger faculty support through endowed professorships to recognize outstanding scholars and teachers,

• an increase in scholarships and internships for undergraduates,

• upgraded educational requirements for entering undergraduate and graduate students,

• a fully renovated campus,

• maintenance of a preeminent library,

• a revitalized undergraduate experience highlighted by a newly defined core curriculum and

• an increase in the University's endowment to $1 billion.

After dinner, the president announced the national co-chairpersons for the Campaign for Delaware, adding that during the initial "quiet phase" of the campaign, $61,907,941 has already been raised. The national chairpersons-all UD trustees-are: Charles M. Cawley, chairman and CEO of MBNA America Bank, NA; Robert W. Gore, alumnus and president and CEO of W.L. Gore & Associates Inc.; John A. Krol, CEO of the DuPont Co.; and P. Coleman Townsend Jr., alumnus and president and CEO of Townsends Inc. in Millsboro.

The nine campaign steering committees-one for each of the seven colleges and one for the library and for athletics-also were recognized.

The evening concluded with the unveiling of a campaign videotape celebrating the University's past and present and pointing toward the future. During its screening-as a surprise to the audience-members of the University's Marching Band silently took seats at the east end of the arena behind a curtain, which was lowered at the close of the video. The band picked up the video's closing strains of the alma mater and then played a rousing version of the fight song. The cheerleaders also performed to the delight of those attending.

To open the evening's festivities, Derek Goodman, a member of the class of 2000, a voice major from Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., sang the national anthem.

-Beth Thomas
Photo by Robert Cohen