You Did It

In 2017, CLA publicly launched the Shattering Expectations fundraising campaign, the largest in the College’s history. Our goal was to raise $150 million and transform CLA into a destination college, a college dedicated to being best for the world.

With your help, and the help of over 21,000 of our friends, alumni, and supporters, we have exceeded our campaign goal. You invested over $182 million in CLA, allowing us to increase opportunities for students and to launch key initiatives.

Among these innovations are the Career Readiness Initiative, which has become a national model over the past five years in preparing undergraduate students for successful careers by leveraging their liberal arts education. This fall we launched the Public Life Project, which will provide students with the skills necessary to grapple with polarizing divisions and prepare for active, meaningful public lives.

Your gifts have led to emergency aid funds for students, which have helped many students stay in school and persevere to reach their degree. The internship scholarships you have created and supported have helped students learn on-the-job skills, test possible career paths, and brought the knowledge and energy of talented CLA students into businesses and organizations across Minnesota and around the world.

As the home of the humanities, arts, and social sciences, CLA is uniquely suited to tackle the most pressing problems facing individuals and societies today. With your help, the College has recruited and retained world-class faculty and graduate students and enhanced highly ranked programs and first-rate research centers and institutes. The Interdisciplinary Collaborative Workshop program spurs new collaborations among scholars in CLA and beyond. The Liberal Arts Engagement Hub engages scholars in reciprocal research and study with community partners to respond to important social challenges.

Put simply, your investments have elevated the College’s level of excellence now and for decades to come. And that matters, not just so we can pat ourselves on the back. The better we are at our work, the better our research, the more ready our graduates, then the greater good we can do. That’s the purpose of a college determined to be best for the world.

From all of us in CLA, thank you for elevating opportunity, boosting excellence, and making us a stronger college. We are deeply grateful for your support and investment.