Campaign for UMKC Raises $302 million
The Campaign for UMKC, a seven-year effort to raise $250 million in capital funding for the University of Missouri-Kansas City, has concluded with a total of $302,534,370 raised, more than 20 percent above its original $250 million goal.
Campaign co-chairs Bob Regnier and Tom Hyde joined Chancellor Leo E. Morton, UMKC Foundation President Steven Norris, and other officials for a pair of gala celebrations on the university’s two campuses Sept. 22 as the campaign drew to a close.
“Now it is up to us, as students, faculty and staff, to make the most of this wonderful investment that our community has made in us,” Morton said at the event “We have a responsibility to leverage this investment to ensure it creates the maximum impact possible on the lives of people in our community, now and long into the future.”
Morton added, “I have no concerns about placing that responsibility on you. That’s because I know in my heart that you are up to this challenge.”
Among the major building projects funded by the campaign are the $32 million Bloch Executive Hall, and two projects under the Missouri 50-50 matching program for public-private partnerships: the $14.8 million Robert W. Plaster Free Enterprise Center and the $96 million Downtown Campus for the Arts. Significant amounts have also been dedicated to faculty support and student scholarships.
“With more than $20 million of the total going toward endowed chairs and other forms of faculty support, we have built on the strengths of this university’s remarkable faculty,” Hyde said. “With more than $60 million going into scholarships, we have made higher education more affordable for lots of deserving people. We have supported vital research that will make a difference in the lives of people in this community, and around the world.”
Norris reminded the audience that the campaign, dubbed “Now Is the Time,” surged past its original goal more than a year ahead of schedule, but continued to press ahead.
“We set out seven years ago to raise $250 million. The goal wasn’t about a dollar figure. It was about taking UMKC, and the community it serves, to the next level,” Norris said. “The hard work and success of our students, faculty and staff played a key role in convincing our community that UMKC was worth the investment.”
Ann Cary, dean of UMKC’s School of Nursing and Health Studies, offered a special thank you to UMKC’s faculty and staff, who raised more than $7 million of the total through an internal campaign.
The UMKC Foundation, launched in 2009, is an independent, nonprofit organization that serves as the official fundraising and fund management organization for UMKC.