At its meeting Thursday, the Board of Visitors’ Advancement Committee heard a fundraising progress report, during which Vice President for Advancement Mark Luellen announced that the University’s Honor the Future campaign has now exceeded $6 billion in donations.
The Advancement Committee oversees the programs and funding that promote the University publicly, such as development through capital campaigns and branding, alumni affairs, commemorations and communication.
The Honor the Future campaign was launched in 2019 with the pillars of sustaining education, securing democracy and driving research, and will officially end June 30. Its campaign goal was $5 billion, which was surpassed last December . Funding from the campaign supports a number of capital projects, including the School of Data Science buildings, the Karsh Institute for Democracy and Shannon Library, among others.
Luellen made the announcement at the committee meeting Thursday, noting that nearly every school has also surpassed their campaign goals and that the outside consultants employed by the University initially suggested a more modest goal of $3 billion.
“I just want to thank our 257,000 donors who have made this campaign possible,” Luellen said. “It’s kind of amazing to think that we have doubled what the outside consultants suggested and went a billion dollars over.”
Prior to Luellen’s report, the Committee heard from two recent graduates who received scholarships funded in part by the Honor the Future campaign.
The Bicentennial Scholars Fund was created by the University with a pledge to match donations made by private individuals, resulting in over $700 million raised. This fund aims to provide students of all backgrounds the opportunity to attend the University. Olivia Baker, a Bicentennial Scholarship recipient who recently graduated from the College at Wise said that her time at Wise was transformative.
“My experiences at U.Va. Wise all share one common influence, the Carl W. Smith Bicentennial Scholarship,” Baker said. “Through being a recipient of this scholarship, I was able to have a full college experience, making many lasting relationships, engaging in opportunities to foster leadership and taking classes in a variety of departments.”
Baker said that she plans to use her degree to pursue a career in law and public service, having confidence in her voice of advocacy.
The other scholarship program highlighted during the meeting was the Blue Ridge Scholars program — created in 2014 by former Board member John Griffin and has raised $8 million — which aims to reduce loans in financial aid packages and attract students who may not attend the University due to financial constraints.
The Committee heard from Corinne Lile-King, Class of 2025 alumna and Blue Ridge scholarship recipient. Lile-King majored in Biology and told the Committee of her long-standing dream to attend the University while growing up in Greensboro, N.C.
“I was absolutely elated when I got in,” Lile-King said. “Yet, after feeling like I met this huge goal, I was soon made aware of how difficult it would be for my family to afford U.Va.”
Lile-King said her Blue Ridge Scholarship made attending the University a reality, and shared that she is now an advocate for financial aid programs to enable other students from disadvantaged backgrounds to enter the University.
“I can now say with a four year biology degree from the prestigious Virginia, that diversity makes every ecosystem stronger,” Lile-King said. “I believe that is true for U.Va. as well.”
University President Jim Ryan thanked Luellen, Committee chair L. F. Payne and Honor the Future campaign chair Peter Grant. Ryan said that the University will soon be in the process of starting the next fundraising campaign, once Honor the Future ends.
“A campaign is not just about organizing fundraising, it’s about organizing the University in a sense,” Ryan said. “Where do you want to go, where do you want to be in five or 10 years? Because that's what you're going to be going out and trying to raise money for.”
The next meeting of the Advancement Committee will be during the meetings of the Board Sept. 11-12.
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