Campaign achieves largest single fundraising total in university history
Oglethorpe University has exceeded the $50 million fundraising goal for its Our Time comprehensive campaign, announced publicly at its launch in 2013. Originally envisioned to conclude in June 2017, the campaign has raised $50.2 million to benefit capital and program objectives, the Annual Fund, student scholarships, faculty teaching and scholarship, and growth in planned giving. Our Time is the largest single campaign in Oglethorpe’s history.
“The early culmination of the Our Time campaign demonstrates a broad-based commitment and effort, most notably from our alumni, Board of Trustees and friends in the foundation community,” said Oglethorpe University President Larry Schall. Oglethorpe alumni, Board of Trustees and philanthropic foundations each contributed approximately 25% of the total amount raised.
Gifts to support capital and program objectives total $22.56 million, including $16 million earmarked for the construction of the award-winning Turner Lynch Campus Center, which opened in fall 2013. In addition, Oglethorpe has constructed a scene shop adjacent to the Conant Performing Arts Center, installed a new track and field, and updated numerous classrooms with new technology.
New commitments in planned giving reached $12.5 million, $2.5 million over the original goal of $10 million, from 41 estate gift commitments.
“The unforeseen overage in planned gifts represents the bulk of future scholarships,” said Robyn Furness-Fallin, vice president for development and alumni relations. “Those inspired to remember Oglethorpe in their estate plans are impacting generations of students to come.”
In-kind gifts totaling $5.55 million include 116 pieces of artwork added to the permanent collection of the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art, as well as six new state-of-the-art laboratory classrooms at Gables Brookhaven, a residential apartment community opening on campus in late fall 2015.
The Annual Fund received more than 10,000 gifts from nearly 3,700 donors. The average Annual Fund gift from alumni increased 44%, and 27 new named endowed funds were established.
“As an alumna who cares deeply about Oglethorpe, it impresses me how the university has immediately put these gifts to use for the benefit of students and faculty,” said Campaign Co-Chair Belle Turner Lynch ’61. “The resounding success of the campaign reflects the dedication of our community—both within and beyond our granite walls—to ensuring that Oglethorpe remains a great university that transforms lives.”
Oglethorpe has entered an era of innovation, reinvigoration, and growth, evidenced by a dramatic rise in enrollment, increased philanthropic giving, and new strategic entrepreneurial partnerships. To accommodate growth, Oglethorpe’s campus has recently seen the addition of a new $16 million campus center, the expansion of our arts and athletics facilities, and the addition of a new residential apartment complex that includes 6,000 square feet of state of the art laboratories for teaching and learning. Founded in 1835, Oglethorpe is Atlanta’s leading liberal arts and sciences university of 1150 students representing 32 states and 38 countries.
Renowned for its groundbreaking Core program, Oglethorpe marries theory and practice through the A_LAB (Atlanta Laboratory for Learning), which serves as an incubator for students’ real-world experiential learning through civic engagement, global education, professional development and undergraduate research. Oglethorpe is the only university in Georgia to be named every year to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for commitment to and achievement in community service. The university has expanded its global reach through strategic partnerships with study abroad provider LeadAbroad and EF (Education First), the world leader in international education, as well as with the launch of Global Oglethorpe (GO) programs in Rome and Barcelona (summer 2016). New partnerships with a number of respected Atlanta arts organizations, plus the on-campus presence of the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art, are bringing the Atlanta arts community to campus and providing students with opportunities to work and perform alongside some of the nation’s top artists and performers. Oglethorpe is a member of the Annapolis Group, comprised of America’s most selective liberal arts institutions, and has been named among the best colleges by U.S. News & World Report, USA Today, Princeton Review and Forbes.
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Media contact: Renee Vary, 404-364-8868 or [email protected]
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