UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The University’s seven-and-a-half year fundraising campaign, For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students, came to a close June 30, with the College of Communications exceeding its $15 million goal, raising $15,798,135.
The campaign started Jan. 1, 2007, and 64 percent of gifts to the college during the campaign were designated for endowments -- critical permanent funding that provides support for students in perpetuity.
In the past 15 years, the value of the permanent endowment in the college, counting Trustee Scholarship matches, has increased from $8.9 million to $34 million.
“We’re pleased with the response of our alumni and friends throughout the campaign,” said Kevin Musick, director of development. “The generous people who support our programs understand the impact and value of their gifts, which are truly appreciated by students.”
Donors at all levels who supported different aspects or areas of interest in the college helped the program exceed its fundraising goal. Overall, 10,968 gifts from 4,067 College of Communications donors were received during the campaign.
Eleven endowments in the last six months of the campaign through the Trustee Matching Scholarship Program helped close out the College of Communications portion of the University’s overall $2 billion campaign.
The recently created endowments were:-- the Michael Allen Humanitarian Memorial Trustee Scholarship;-- the Trustee Scholarship in Honor of Dean Douglas Anderson;-- the Donald and Vivienne Bellisario Trustee Scholarship;-- the Mildred Blazek Trustee Scholarship;-- the Norman Eberly Trustee Scholarship in Communications;-- the Elizabeth Fetter Trustee Scholarship;-- the Jay and Dorothy Grossman Trustee Scholarship;-- the Marie Hardin and Jerry Kammer Trustee Scholarship;-- the David and Mary Lee Jones Trustee Scholarship;-- the Eric Rabe Family Trustee Scholarship; and-- the E. Stratford Smith and Bette B. Jackson Smith Trustee Scholarship.
Most of the college’s fundraising success during the campaign came for scholarships that help keep a Penn State education affordable.
Donors to the college have created 51 Trustee Matching Scholarships since the program began in 2002. Recipients of the scholarships boast an average grade-point average of 3.39, and more than half are in the first generation of their family to attend college.
The matching funds continue every year thereafter, based on a percentage of the endowment’s market value.
Along with the Trustee Scholarships, other named funds recently created were the Dr. W. Bradford Mellow Communication Scholarship; the Richard M. and Rayna K. Ravitz Scholarship; the Paul L. Tsompanas Journalism Award; and the Connie and Randy Yanoshak Memorial Internship. In addition to the scholarship and award commitments during the homestretch of the campaign, Warren Carmichael, president of the College’s Alumni Society Board, made a significant addition to an existing endowed fund.