CLA Launches the Most Ambitious Fundraising Campaign in Our History

On November 4, 2017, we publicly launched Shattering Expectations: The Campaign for Liberal Arts.

With a goal of $150 million, this is the largest fundraising campaign in our history and an exciting time to reimagine CLA’s future as we prepare for our 150th anniversary in 2018-19. 

“Our vision is to transform CLA into a destination college,” says John Coleman, dean of the College of Liberal Arts. “But this goal is not just about CLA. We aim to become a destination college so that we can do the most good for others—for individuals and for the many communities our college serves. There wouldn’t be much reason to be doing what we’re doing otherwise. The better we are at attracting and retaining top faculty and students, the stronger our research, the more ready our graduates, the more we include a diverse range of people and ideas, then the higher quality impact we will have. The greater the good we can do.”

Gifts to the Shattering Expectations campaign will advance three priorities:

• Attract top students and develop their potential. Our goal is to raise $50 million in new scholarship and fellowship support. Your gifts will help ensure that each of our students—both undergraduate and graduate students—can chart a path to success after graduation.
   
• Spark innovation and collaboration with our communities. Our goal is to raise $65 million to strengthen our academic disciplines, recruit field-shaping faculty, launch new research projects and programs, and help build bridges between campus and community. Your gifts will ensure that those who benefit most from new discoveries are involved from the start in shaping them. 
   
• Engage every voice in the drive to discover. Our goal is to raise $35 million to provide greater access to a world-class CLA education, especially for students who come from low- or middle-income households. You can help ensure CLA is a place of opportunity for everyone, and that multiple and diverse perspectives are brought to bear on the critical challenges facing our world.

To the 14,000+ donors who have already given to this campaign in support of students, faculty, and the communities we serve, we offer a heartfelt thank you.