Albrecht sets goal to raise $200 million by 2010
While celebrating USU’s 119th year Friday night, President Stan L. Albrecht announced the university campaign to raise $200 million by 2010.
The Taggart Student Center Ballroom was packed with alumni, with record-setting attendance level, for the announcement of a campaign that has been in silent phase for almost three years.
For the first time in its history, the university was going to conduct a comprehensive campaign. According to Kent Clark, an event organizer, many major private universities have been conducting these campaigns for years.
Traditionally USU is a land grant university and most of its funding came from the state, but in an interview, Albrecht said, “Now we get about 25 percent of our funding from the state, so most of our revenue is generated through federal and research grants brought to the university.”
The point of a silent phase is to help the university determine how much money it can reasonably expect to generate, so over the past three years, it has been quietly raising money. So far USU has raised $102 million, Albrecht announced.
For the Dec. 31, 2010, deadline, the university has to raise another $98 million.
Albrecht said, “I predict that we will meet and exceed our expectation by the completion date.”
He said here was no goal to begin with, and the money is being raised for multiple programs.
“That’s why it is called a comprehensive campaign. The money is going to be used for everything from completing the North End Zone at the Aggie Stadium to greatly increasing the scholarships and endowments available for students,” Albrecht said.
Clark said, “Some universities are famous for their endowments. For example, I could give money to you to pay tuition for one semester, and that would be great. Or I could invest and use the interest to keep paying tuitions over a longterm.
-skjohnson@cc.usu.edu