The University of Arkansas has launched Campaign Arkansas, a multi-year fundraising effort with a goal of raising $1 billion to support the university’s academic mission and other priorities.
The state’s flagship university announced the campaign over the weekend.
“One of the top priorities of the campaign is to increase need-based scholarships for Arkansans, but that’s just the beginning,” said Joe Steinmetz, the university’s chancellor. “Our commitment to Campaign Arkansas is critical to the future of the University of Arkansas and our efforts to keep tuition affordable while enhancing academic opportunities for our faculty and students. Without increases in state funding, private fundraising is the mechanism that allows us to support student scholarships, research and innovation, study abroad opportunities, the creation of new interdisciplinary programs and the renovation of our existing facilities.”
Campaign Arkansas will raise funds for scholarships and fellowships, endowed chairs, capital projects, interdisciplinary academic programs and other priority areas that will advance the university’s goals and objectives. UA in a press release said the funding is needed to provide the level of education, experience and environment that ensures that the university remains a top-tier research institution for students and the state.
The capital campaign is scheduled to conclude on June 30, 2020. Alumni and friends who make up the campaign’s volunteer leadership committee voted to set the initial goal of $1 billion at their fall meeting on Sept. 16.
Campaign Arkansas seeks to continue the university’s transformation, started by the billion-dollar Campaign for the Twenty-First Century, allowing the U of A to recruit and retain top-level faculty and prepare its graduates to make significant economic and research impacts.
“Clearly, the impact of our previous campaign is still being felt on our campus today,” said Mark Power, interim vice chancellor for university advancement. “We hope to build upon that foundation with Campaign Arkansas.”
All colleges and schools on campus, as well as units such as Diversity Affairs, Student Affairs, Intercollegiate Athletics, the Arkansas Alumni Association, University Bands, the Pryor Center and University Libraries, will benefit from Campaign Arkansas. Each college, school and unit is represented by volunteers who serve on the Campaign Arkansas Steering Committee, and each unit also has its own committee of volunteers.
Reynie Rutledge, chair of the UA System Board of Trustees, will serve as chair of the Campaign Arkansas Steering Committee through June 30, 2017. He is joined by Johnelle Hunt, Marilyn Bogle, Boyce Billingsley, Bob and Sandra Connor, Doug and Shelley McMillon and Bill Dillard II on the campaign’s executive committee.
