The University of Notre Dame announced Saturday (May 5) the largest fund-raising effort in the history of Catholic higher education – the $1.5 billionSpirit of Notre Damecampaign.
The most comprehensive campaign in Notre Dames history,Spirithas been structured to provide significant financial support to four primary pillars of the Universitys life: the undergraduate educational experience; research and graduate studies; diversity and international studies; and Catholic intellectual life.
The University already has raised $887 million, or approximately 59 percent, of the total. The campaign will end June 30, 2011.
The Spiritcampaign will enable Notre Dame to fulfill its distinctive mission in an even more powerful way for the 21 st century,said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Notre Dames president.While drawing on the riches of our Catholic tradition, we will pursue even greater excellence in teaching, inquiry and creative expression. The Spirit of Notre Damecampaign is essential to achieving our central aspirations for the University.
Spiritwas announced Saturday night at a campaign inaugural event attended by members of the Board of Trustees and the Alumni Association Board and Senate, officers and administrators of the University, and other invited guests at the Leighton Concert Hall in theDeBartoloCenterfor the Performing Arts.
Priorities of the campaign were identified in a strategic planning process, which included administrators, faculty, students and staff, and resulted in a document titledFulfilling the Promise.The priorities include:
- $485 million for overall University objectives, including $250 million for undergraduate financial aid endowment and $40 million for graduate fellowship endowment.
- $660 million for the Universitys four colleges and two schools, including construction of a social science building, College of Engineering facility, Law School addition, and an Executive Education facility; the creation of a College of Science equipment fund; and separate endowments – primarily for endowed professorships – of $111 million for the College of Arts and Letters, $90 million for the Mendoza College of Business, $70 million for the College of Engineering, $113 million for the College of Science, $52 million for the Notre Dame Law School, and $9 million for the School of Architecture.
- $60 million for the University Libraries, including $33 million for Hesburgh Library positions and collections, $7 million for positions and collections in the Kresge Law Library, and $20 million for further renovation of the Hesburgh Library.
- $81 million for University centers and institutes, including a new building for the Institute for Church Life and Center for Social Concerns, and endowments ranging from $3 million to $15 million for those two entities as well as the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Kellogg Institute for International Studies, Institute for Latino Studies, Nanovic Institute for European Studies, Medieval Institute, Erasmus Institute, and Institute for Educational Initiatives.
- $130 million for student life initiatives, including $76 million for four new residence halls, $15.6 million for the renovation of existing halls, and $30.4 million for a new student activity center.
- $84 million for athletics, including endowment for varsity athletics grants-in-aid, renovation and construction of varsity athletic stadiums and practice fields, including theJoyceCenter, and $5 million in expendable grants-in-aid.
The spirit and the substance of this campaign are in its embrace of the Universitys potential to excel even beyond its aspirations and achievements of the last 50 years,said John W.JayJordan II, the campaigns chair, a member of the Board of Trustees and a 1969 alumnus.In a sense, the overriding theme of the campaign may well be its commitment to theadvancement of Notre Dame as a unique institution, distinguished from other universities by its character and vision, and by a mission that takes a less-traveled path, one that sets it apart from its peers even as it seeks to perform academically on a level that matches the greatest institutions of higher education in the world.
TheSpirit of Notre Damecampaign is subtitledEmbracing the Life of the Mind, the Wisdom of the Heart.It is the seventh capital campaign in the Universitys history. The most recent,Generations: A Campaign for the Notre Dame Student,from 1994 to 2000, began with a goal of $767 million and raised $1.061 billion. Other previous campaigns and their fund-raising totals are:
- A Strategic Moment(1985 to 1990) – $463 million
- Campaign for Notre Dame(1975 to 1981) – $180.5 million
- Summa(1966 to 1972) – $62.5 million
- Challenge II – $22 million
- Challenge I(1960 to 1963) – $24.6 million
Campaign inaugural events Friday and Saturday included recognition of Notre Dame Inspirations as representatives of faculty, student and alumni excellence: anthropologist Carolyn Nordstrom and Rev. Tom Streit, C.S.C., a biologist, represented the faculty; Kelley Tuthill, a reporter and an anchor on WCVB-TV in Boston, and Rod West, president and chief executive officer of Entergy New Orleans, represented the alumni; and senior Patrick Corrigan, sophomore Kendra Jackson and third-year Law School student Heather Cameron represented the student body.
In addition, Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., Notre Dames president from 1952 to 1987, was honored as a Notre Dame Inspiration for his lifelong contributions to the University.
The inaugural program was videotaped and will be produced on DVD for distribution to Notre Dame alumni worldwide.
More information on the campaign is available at http://supporting.nd.edu/spirit .
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