Johnson C. Smith University is proud to announce that the Tomorrow is What WE Make It comprehensive campaign—launched in 2010 by the JCSU Board of Trustees, with a $150-million goal—has secured gifts and commitments totaling $159.4 million as of Dec. 6, 2017. This is one of the largest sums ever raised by JCSU. The campaign concluded at the close of JCSU’s 150th anniversary, with over $1 million dollars pledged for each year that the University has been in existence.
JCSU experienced broad-based support from Trustees, alumni, corporations, foundations, faculty/staff and friends in the philanthropic community. Alumni contributed $5,987,867 and Trustees raised $2,855,970 of the $159,479,683 total. Also included is a $1 million bequest from the Larry A. Griffin Family Trust and the Michael L. Griffin Family Trust. The Griffins are slated to receive JCSU’s Arch of Triumph Community Partner award in 2018. The Duke Endowment, which received the Arch of Triumph Community Partner award in 2014, contributed the campaign’s $35 million lead gift.
The lead gift of the campaign came from The Duke Endowment in the sum of $35 milIion, and in prior updates Institutional Advancement disclosed reaching $38 million by the end of Fiscal Year 2011, $79 million at the end of 2012, $94 million at the close of 2013, $107 million at 2014, $115 million at 2015, and $135 million at the end of FY2016. $7,446,035.26 was raised specifically for the President’s Gap Scholarship Fund to cover the shortfall some students encounter between financial aid received and the cost of tuition.
“It’s exciting to see the combination of support from alumni, local community members and national foundations on this record-breaking comprehensive campaign,” said Kristin Hills Bradberry, campaign consultant. “It’s also impressive to note how much of the support in this campaign has already been given, not just pledged, and is making an impact now on the lives of students at JCSU.”
“We knew that $150 million was an ambitious goal when we launched our comprehensive campaign, but we were confident that JCSU’s stakeholders and the community would partner with us to reach it,” said Shirley J. Hughes, chair of the JCSU Board of Trustees. “Thank you to the entire JCSU community, friends and supporters. Your contributions have made this the most successful campaign in the University’s 150-year history. Most importantly, your gifts enable and encourage young women and men to pursue their dream of completing a college education. We are grateful for your confidence in JCSU’s ability to deliver a high-quality education to our students and for your confirmation of the University’s importance to the city of Charlotte.”
The funds raised will support scholarships, academic resources, capital projects, the JCSU Fund, and the unrestricted annual giving fund.
“I am deeply grateful to everyone who has participated in this outstanding effort,” said President Ronald L. Carter. “The success of this campaign speaks to larger hopes for a better university and a better tomorrow—a tomorrow transformed by the change agents developed, encouraged and inspired within our gates.”
Honorary co-chairs of the campaign were Congresswoman Eva Clayton ’55 and Sally Robinson, Charlotte philanthropist. The campaign co-chairs were Kendall Alley, regional president (Charlotte) at Wells Fargo; Trustee Kevin Henry, executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Extended Stay America; and Thomas Baldwin ’71, former executive at BB&T.
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About Johnson C. Smith University
Founded in 1867, Johnson C. Smith University is an independent, close-knit urban university located in Charlotte, N.C. It has a growing national reputation for integrating the liberal arts with business, the sciences and technology in ways that empower tomorrow’s diverse entrepreneurial citizens and leaders to be change agents in their professions and communities. Offering 25 fields of study, including a master’s degree in social work, to more than 1,400 students from a variety of ethnic, socioeconomic and geographic backgrounds, the university’s programs focus on intellectual rigor, social consciousness and global responsibility. Visit
www.jcsu.edu or follow the university on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Posted By: Reginald Culpepper
Thursday, December 14th 2017 at 6:15PM
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