EVANSVILLE — The University of Evansville will announce during an 1854 Society gala Friday night that its FORWARD fundraising campaign has surpassed the original $125 million goal with a total of nearly $130.5 million.
UE President Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz told the Courier & Press the university believes FORWARD the Campaign for the University of Evansville, represents the largest comprehensive fundraising campaign in Southwestern Indiana history.
"Many of the initiatives that were part of our comprehensive campaign were the result of the university attempting to make our city just a little bit better," Pietruszkiewicz said.
Pietruszkiewicz cited the Emily M. Young mental health clinic, which he said allows UE to reduce wait times for those in Evansville who need mental health services.
"We have significantly reduced the wait times in the city from what they were when we opened the clinic, to where we are now for both clinical services and for assessment services," he said.
The FORWARD campaign raised about $3 million for that purpose, Pietruszkiewicz said.
More than 15,000 UE alumni, supporters, corporations and foundations supported more than 500 initiatives throughout the FORWARD campaign — initiatives UE says are "expanding access to education through scholarships, strengthening experiential learning opportunities, supporting inspirational faculty, and advancing transformative capital projects."
The campaign kicked off with a leadership phase in 2019 and launched publicly in 2022, marking UE’s first institution-wide fundraising campaign since 2010. Pietruszkiewicz said that previous campaign raised about $80 million.
The FORWARD campaign also raised more than $20 million in new scholarship funds to make private higher education more accessible to students, Pietruszkiewicz said.
"We know the demographics of our students continue to change," the UE president said. "We’re about 23% our first-generation students. Forty percent of our students come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. To make this university more accessible, we need to raise scholarship funds."
Most of UE's students come from Southwest Indiana and elsewhere within Indiana, Pietruszkiewicz said.
"And they stay here after they graduate and become successful, so we’re adding to the 'brain gain' culture of Indiana," he said. "One of the ways that we're able to do that is through nearly 15,000 distinct supporters that have helped the university and our students over the course of the last six-and-a-half years."
UE says donations made during the campaign not only put $20 million-plus toward scholarships, but also established "multiple endowed chairs and professorships, expanded Harlaxton College and study abroad opportunities, increased faculty and research support."
The impact is illustrated in major campus and community projects supported through the campaign, UE says. The university cites not only the Young Mental Health Clinic, but the creation of the Koch Family Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology, the renovation of Wheeler Concert Hall and the creation of the John David Lutz Theatre Lab.
FORWARD also added to Aces athletics with money for facilities. UE credits support from Lilly Endowment Inc. for youth programs on campus and the Toyota USA Foundation’s Indiana Driving Possibilities initiative, which the university says advanced STEM education through the IN-MaC Design and Innovation Studio, along with other grants supporting the arts.
UE's FORWARD campaign steering committee had originally believed $125 million was "a stretch goal," Pietruszkiewicz said.
"And we have been just delighted over the course of the last six years, to see how many people, how many friends of the university believe in our future that we can make a difference in the lives of people," he said.
"This campaign is reflective of the university’s mission to empower our students to think critically and bravely, serve responsibly and meaningfully in a changing world."
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