Campaign Kick-Off Surprise: A New Billion-Dollar Goal!

The University of Cincinnati had long-established plans for the Saturday, Oct. 25, public  launch of its Proudly Cincinnati fundraising campaign.

Those plans for the public launch of the capital campaign ran according to schedule on Saturday until the unexpected and bold closing to the evening’s festivities. That’s when a new and more ambitious fundraising goal of $1 billion dollars was announced. The previous goal had been set at $800 million. The new goal must still be approved by UC's Board of Trustees.

The new goal will "serve UC's future in bold new ways" according to the volunteer leadership of the campaign, which includes Proudly Cincinnati campaign co-chairs Otto M. Budig, Jr., and Buck Niehoff. They were joined by Jeffrey Williams, chair of the UC Foundation Board of Trustees, in writing a note that UC President Nancy L. Zimpher read aloud at the close of the Oct. 25 program.

That note to Zimpher concluded: "With your leadership and the approval of the UC Board of Trustees, we want to join in this ambitious vision to be the nation's finest public urban research university by raising our campaign goal to $1 billion. For our students. For our city. For us all."

Earlier in the evening, Zimpher had stated, “Proudly Cincinnati will truly be a game changer." That said, the new $1 billion goal will help propel UC into an ambitious future with "strong student enrollments, increasingly competitive admission standards and international stature in both academic and research excellence," according to UC's president.

• View a photo slide show from the campaign launch on Oct. 25.  

The largest capital campaign in UC’s history
In setting its new goal, UC has joined a select group of universities. According to the March and April 2008 issues of Currents magazine, published by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, only about 65 higher education institutions having completed or are in the planning/operational stages for transformative billion-dollar campaigns. Among these have been or are the University of California-Berkeley, Stanford University, the University of Virginia and Yale University.

Until Saturday’s launch event held in UC’s Fifth Third Arena, the university had been in the quiet phase of its eight-year Proudly Cincinnati campaign, which runs from July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2013. That quiet phase garnered the university nearly $454 million to be used for research, scholarship, student support and other specified needs. Almost half of that nearly $454 million figure – $196 million – was provided to the university as gifts in only the past year, the highest annual giving total in the university’s history.

The new $1-billion dollar goal for the Proudly Cincinnati campaign is the largest campaign goal ever announced by the university. UC’s last campaign, which ended in the year 2000, raised $329 million.

Before the surprise announcement of the new billion-dollar goal, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland spoke regarding UC’s vital role in the state. He said, “The University of Cincinnati is Ohio's leading flagship research institution. The campaign will make UC the finest public urban research university... . An educated workforce helps our state attract new business and grow our economy. UC is also uniquely equipped to be a leading economic driver for this city and this region providing a multi-billion dollar impact while fulfilling the university’s mission of teaching, research and community service.”

Among the local, state and national leaders attending UC’s Oct. 25 campaign launch were Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut, U.S. Representative Steve Chabot, U.S. Representative Jean Schmidt and former Ohio Governor Bob Taft.

UC Board of Trustees members also attended and participated. Speaking during the event were Board of Trustees members Jeffrey Wyler (via video) and Buck Niehoff, who, again, is serving as campaign co-chair with local philanthropist and businessman Otto M. Budig, Jr. Also speaking at the kick-off event was Jeffrey Williams, chair of the UC Foundation Board of Trustees. Said Williams, “One-hundred percent of the university and Foundation boards of trustees, college deans and cabinet have already given in support of the campaign.”

Speaking via video, UC Board of Trustees Chairman Jeff Wyler explained that each board member was personally supporting the Proudly Cincinnati campaign. He said, “…each trustee has already made a gift to the campaign demonstrating our personal support for the course we’ve charted with President Zimpher.”

In fact, according to campaign co-chair Otto Budig, “Members of both the UC and UC Foundation boards of trustees have personally pledged more than $84 million toward this campaign. While we celebrate tonight, make no mistake about the fact that our work is just beginning. It’s time for all of us to consider the value UC adds as a partner in this community. It’s time for each of us to identify where our philanthropic passion intersects with the needs of our university. And it’s time for all of us to boldly proclaim: I am Proudly Cincinnati.”

Enhancing UC’s recognized strengths
The funds raised for the university will enhance the institution’s recognized strengths, increasing the university’s level of and commitment toward service to society via learning and research.

Promised Zimpher during the kick-off event, “…we will always place students at the center and continue to grow our research and academic excellence, forge key partnerships, build on UC’s new-found sense of place and forever be a campus of extraordinary opportunity.”

For students, the Proudly Cincinnati campaign will enhance their UC experience. For instance, more than $200 million raised during the ongoing campaign will fund scholarships and other student aid, including – as just one example – the endowment of a tuition-free musical theater program in UC’s nationally ranked College-Conservatory of Music.

Other specific examples of projects earmarked for funding from the campaign include language certificate programs in Arabic, Chinese and German for UC College of Business students as well as one new building, a new home for UC’s College of Law.

• For more on these goals, visit the just-launched Proudly Cincinnati campaign Web site.

Building on momentum
This bold beginning toward the billion-dollar goal of the Proudly Cincinnati campaign builds on a number of recently announced, historic successes by the university. These include

• Fall 2008 enrollment at UC hit an 18-year high of 37,072 students.

• The number of National Merit Scholars at UC increased to 146 in fall 2008, up 25 percent from 2007.

• This past fall saw the arrival of UC’s most academically talented freshman class in university history. UC’s incoming freshmen held ACT test scores of 24.8 on average, significantly higher than last year’s average score of 24.1 and also higher than the national average ACT test score of 21.1.