Record gift levels propel capital campaign
May 20, 2002
KALAMAZOO -- Western Michigan University has already received a record $23.8 million in gifts during its 2001-02 fiscal year, which ends June 30.
According to Bud Bender, vice president for development, the
University is more than
$8 million ahead of the total received at the same time last
year. Bender expects the final total for 2001-02 to eclipse the
previous record of $18.4 million by about the same $8 million
margin, or an increase of about 45 percent.
In the midst of a $125-million capital campaign, WMU has set new records for total gifts each of the past three years. The previous record was set in 2000-01, surpassing the then-record $17.5 million raised in 1999-2000. The capital campaign, "Partnering for Success," is slated to end in 2003, during the centennial celebration of the University's founding.
According to a report presented to the WMU Board of Trustees at its May 17 meeting, gifts received by the WMU Foundation during the 2001-02 fiscal year totaled $22,984,023 through April 30. An additional $540,656 in gifts was received by the Paper Technology Foundation, which supports the internationally known paper programs at WMU. All gifts to Western Michigan University are received through these two foundations.
Among the larger gifts received since the previous report to the Board of Trustees, March 22, were an anonymous gift of nearly $46,000 for equipment at public radio station WMUK-FM and $50,000 from SBC Ameritech to support minority students pursuing careers as teachers.
The Ameritech Teacher Education Assistance for Minorities Program helps WMU's College of Education both recruit and retain more minority students in its programs. SBC Ameritech has funded the program since 1999. The ultimate goal is to increase the number of African American, Hispanic and Native American teachers in the nation's schools.
WMU also received gifts of $10,000 each from Agnes Robb Bouyoucos of Okemos, Mich., to support teaching internships; from the Carol J. Haas Foundation of Mendon, Mich., to fund a senior cello scholarship in the School of Music; from Joanne and John Lawrence of Richland, Mich., for the University's unrestricted fund; and from the Robideau Foundation, Inc., of Tecumseh, Mich., for the Jeffrey T. Robideau Awards for Meritorius Scholarship in the Department of Management.
Media contact: Thom Myers, 269 387-8400, thomas.myers@wmich.edu