Campaign on track to finish a year early

by Barbara Pitoniak, News Office staff and Sarah R. Buchholz, Chronicle staff

ampaign UMass will be completed one year ahead of schedule, Vice Chancellor for University Advancement Royster Hedgepeth told the Faculty Senate at its Oct. 5 meeting.

     "We are still on track to reach our goal by the end of this calendar year," he said. The campus raised $19.8 million in private donations during Fiscal 2000 to bring the total amount generated by Campaign UMass to $109.9 million, according to Hedgepeth.

     Begun in 1996, the campaign was originally targeted to last five years, but it is now expected that the goals will be reached by the end of December, he said.

     "I am extremely pleased with the progress of Campaign UMass," Hedgepeth said in September. "We are laying the groundwork for making philanthropy a part of the University's future. I'm especially proud of the progress we've made in establishing endowments for faculty support and toward increasing financial aid for our students."

     The campaign total includes cash gifts, gifts in kind, and all new pledges. Highlights for the past fiscal year include:

• A $1-million gift from the Marriott Foundation to the Department Of Hotel, Restaurant and Travel Administration;
• An $850,000 challenge grant from the Kresge Foundation to the Isenberg School of Management;
• A $1-million gift from alumnus Richard Mahoney to the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics;
• A gift of $500,000 from alumnus Frank R. O'Keefe Jr., to provide University scholarships to students at Peabody High School;
• First-time gifts from the Pew Charitable Trust and the Nellie Mae, Freeman, Templeton, and Starr foundations; and
• An overall increase in undergraduate alumni participation, from 15 to 16 percent. That translates to an increase from 17,561 to 18,566, or 1,005 undergraduate alumni, out of a total of 116,014 undergraduate alumni of record.

     "The expectation is that fund-raising activity will double in the next five years," Hedgepeth told the senate.

     Although the Development Office has been under new leadership since April when Diane Dukette was named assistant vice chancellor for University Advancement and executive director of Development, Hedgepeth expressed confidence that fund-raising efforts remain on target.

     "Diane has a strong track record in major-gift fund-raising. She is one of our own, having received her MBA from UMass, and is an experienced administrator," he said. "I have every confidence in her ability to lead us to our campaign goal and beyond."

Related Web site:

• Campaign UMass