September 14, 2007
FULL TEXT OF PRESIDENT RANSDELL'S SPEECH
Bowling
Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University is controlling its own destiny as President Gary Ransdell
unveiled a new $200 million comprehensive campaign this morning that will position WKU to achieve a bold vision of becoming a leading American university with international reach by 2012.
Dr. Ransdell announced the “New Century of Spirit” campaign to faculty and staff gathered at Van Meter Auditorium. “You are the first to understand that you and our students will be the direct beneficiaries of the psychological and financial fruits of this capital campaign,” he said. “The transformation about which we have spoken so much this morning will be supported by those who believe in you, who trust you, who are willing to invest in you, and know that through you WKU will, indeed, become a leading American university with international reach.”
WKU has already raised more than $91 million in new gifts and pledges during the campaign’s quiet phase, Dr. Ransdell said. “Therefore, with five years to go, we fully expect to surpass the $200 million goal, to build an endowment of $200 million and to increase our annual cash flow from gift deposits to $20 million a year.”
The “New Century of Spirit” campaign will focus on the people, places and programs that exemplify the WKU spirit.
By 2012, WKU expects to reach the following goals:
- $200 million in new gifts and pledges
- $200 million endowment.
- $50 million generated annual in relevant sponsored research and public service.
- A $500 million capital investment in the campus.
Dr. Ransdell said the comprehensive campaign correlates to the University’s new “Challenging the Spirit” strategic plan, which he also outlined to faculty and staff.
“In one sense, the strategic plan is the means through which benefactors will gain the necessary confidence to invest in a strategically sound, ambitious and worthwhile endeavor,” he said. “The campaign itself, on the other hand, will create much of the financial capacity and the intrinsic confidence through which the strategic plan will be achieved—all with complete fulfillment by 2012.”
Tom Hiles, WKU’s vice president for Institutional Advancement, said the campaign’s impact will reach across the campus community.
“I am particularly excited about the opportunity to build an endowment that will greatly enhance WKU’s ability to recruit and retain quality students and faculty,” Hiles said. “We are very grateful for all of the alumni and friends who have floored the quiet phase of the campaign.”
The campaign will be co-chaired by Don Vitale of Bowling Green and Rick Guillaume of Louisville. They lead a campaign cabinet of 35 prominent leaders who care about the university, Dr. Ransdell said.
“There is no better time than now to invest in WKU,” Guillaume said. “This is an investment in the future of not only our University, but in the future of our Commonwealth and beyond. Now is the time to take charge of our own destiny.”
The “New Century of Spirit” is WKU’s second capital campaign. The first campaign, “Investing in the Spirit,” ended in 2003 after raising $102 million. The campaign began in 1998 with a goal of $78 million.
Vitale was co-chair of that campaign as well and said it took some work to convince him to co-chair a second campaign.
“With Dr. Ransdell’s description of WKU’s strategic plan, I became excited about the opportunity to help complete the transformation that we started with the ‘Investing in the Spirit’ campaign,” he said.
Vitale added that the members of the Campaign Cabinet “have worked behind the scenes and have been the driving force behind the success of the public announcement we are celebrating today.”
Examples of the transformation that has occurred since 1997 include a 25 percent growth in enrollment, 125 percent growth in the campus budget, 200 percent growth in sponsored research and public service, 478 percent growth in annual gift deposits, 500 percent growth in the endowment, 23 percent growth in increased graduation rates, 13 percent growth in student retention, national prominence in forensics and journalism and broadcasting and the physical rebuilding of campus with 24 construction projects totaling $195 million completed and more projects under way or on the drawing board.
“As we learned in our last campaign, the impact of the $102 million we raised was significant in terms of endowed faculty positions, endowed scholarships and programmatic support. What was even more important for us in that experience, however, was the manner in which our public perception has changed,” Dr. Ransdell said.
“Our institutional self-esteem has changed these last 10 years in large measure because of the confidence which the private sector has expressed in us and in which we have grown comfortable in our own minds. The psychological values of a bold and aggressive comprehensive campaign have immeasurable value in the life of a university.”
The “New Century of Spirit” campaign website is available at www.wku.edu/campaign. WKU’s “Challenging the Spirit” strategic plan can be viewed at www.wku.edu/strategicplan.pdf.
More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
-WKU-
"A leading American university with international reach"
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