One. Billion. Dollars.
This is our time … time for us to rise to the heights to which we are called. Colorado State University is on a quest for greatness, and to get there we need your help.
Colorado State University officially launched its one billion dollar comprehensive fundraising campaign on Saturday, February 13 at its annual donor celebration event on the CSU Campus. State Your Purpose – The Campaign for Colorado State University has a target completion date in 2020 to mark the 150th birthday of the University.
In 2012, Colorado State University celebrated the early and successful conclusion of its first comprehensive campaign. Now, less than four years later, we are embarking on a far more ambitious quest, looking to raise $1 billion dollars to invest in the never-ending pursuit of across-the-board excellence.
Changing the game
“We’re incredibly proud of this campaign – the goals it embodies, the promise it holds, and it’s symbolism,” CSU President, Dr. Tony Frank, said. “This isn’t a campaign that quietly questions our thinking about the future. This is a campaign that demands a declaration: State Your Purpose. That theme embodies the character of a university that is committed to continuous improvement, that rolls up its sleeves and redoubles its efforts, and that leaves no one behind as we move forward.”
Brett Anderson, vice president of University Advancement, shepherded the first campaign to a successful conclusion. He announced that the new campaign has already raised more money – nearly $540 million – in just over three years, than the previous campaign raised in seven full years.
Anderson outlined several primary goals of the campaign:
- Dramatically increase the number of scholarships so CSU can continue to attract, recruit and create access for outstanding students from the state, the country and the world
- Invest in world-class infrastructure – classrooms, labs, residence halls and athletics facilities – so CSU can achieve across-the-board excellence
- Provide resources to exceptional programs so CSU can attract the leading faculty and staff minds in the world to further research and teaching
- Significantly increase CSU’s endowment for the long-term financial health of the University
Lofty goal
“Raising a billion dollars would put us in an exclusive club – only a small number of universities have completed billion-dollar campaigns,” Anderson said. “It’s a monumental and meaningful task, and it’s also the ideal target when we looked at the needs of the institution to continue on our path toward excellence. If we want to continue on our journey to become the greatest land-grant university in the country, we need to successfully complete this campaign.”
“We will succeed in reaching our goal, and when we do, we will have ensured that greater numbers of our graduates leave with a diploma and not a crippling debt load,” said Frank. “We will have given our faculty the resources to continue to make groundbreaking discoveries that transform our world. We will have expanded opportunities for student veterans. And we will have demonstrated that excellence is built with the leadership of people who have both a sense of purpose and the vision to lead us forward.”
State Your Purpose
Learn more about the campaign at giving.colostate.edu. Explore purpose-driven opportunities for giving and connecting with CSU programs and people who are changing our world. Highlighted funds in the College of Liberal Arts include the Ann Gill Visiting Lecturer and Artist Endowment, the Marching Band Enhancement, and the University Center for the Arts Endowment.
Purpose is what gives life definition and direction. It’s what ignites that flame and passion burning deep inside. It’s what compels you to give and drives you to do more. Join us.
State Your Purpose – The Campaign for Colorado State University.
Watch Frank’s remarks in their entirety.