From The Campaign Chair
June 2009Students are the reason we launched the Extraordinary Opportunities Campaign. The campaign’s purpose is to enhance and deepen the extraordinary opportunities available to Cornell students in the classroom, on campus, and around the world. Indeed, it has already transformed the educations of many of our students. During the May Board of Trustees meeting we heard from 15 members of the Class of 2009 whose experiences were profoundly impacted by campaign initiatives.
One by one they described experiences we recognized as direct results of the campaign. Over and over, they confidently described opportunities made possible by campaign priorities, including Dimensions, the Berry Center, Cornell Fellows, the Pre-Law Program, faculty-student research, and off-campus study.
In this challenging economy, we are especially heartened by the generous gifts of alumni and friends as we near our Dec. 31, 2009, deadline. To date, we have reached $88.3 million toward the $92 million goal. In May we announced a grant for the environmental studies program from the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation of $10,000 per year for up to five years, along with an additional stock gift. In April a member of the Class of 1967 pledged an anonymous unrestricted gift of $100,000. We will announce additional gifts in the months ahead.
At this time, of the $88.3 million in commitments, $43 million has been pledged to Cornell’s endowment. In a down market, your gift to the endowment means more than ever. Endowment gifts will grow as the market recovers. Whatever your philanthropic interests, we can find a fit within the Extraordinary Opportunities Campaign. If you have already given, please consider an additional gift. Your gift will forever change the lives of Cornell students.
On behalf of those students, we thank you.
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John M. Smith ’71 |
Les Garner |
Special note from John: The economic crisis has spurred Dyan and me to issue a challenge to other major campaign donors. In light of the college’s need for liquid assets, we challenge other donors to increase the pace at which their pledges are fulfilled. In turn, we’ll accelerate our pledge payments. With this challenge, we can provide Cornell with the fiscal solvency to not only work through our current challenges, but to position us for success once the economy recovers.
