The University of Central Arkansas has announced that it raised $36,765,084 for New Vision, New Century: The Centennial Campaign for UCA, the university’s first ever comprehensive fundraising campaign which ended on Dec. 31.
The original goal of $35 million was publicly announced in the fall of 2007, coinciding with the university’s 100-year anniversary. During the course of the five-year fundraising period, 7,617 individuals and organizations contributed to the campaign.
In addition to surpassing the goal of the university’s first major fundraising effort, several other milestones were achieved:
- More than $7.5 million in planned gifts matured during the campaign.
- More than 223 new funds were created, 101 of which were for student scholarships.
- New scholarships were established for students studying in each of the six academic colleges.
- A goal of establishing at least two new scholarship funds for African American students studying in each of the academic colleges was achieved.
- 52 faculty members received faculty grants of up to $3,000 for various programs and research projects.
- 36 individuals or organizations contributed $100,000 or more to the campaign.
- Faculty and staff giving more than doubled to just over 50 percent.
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The largest single gift was a $5.3 million contribution from the Walton Family Foundation, Inc. to establish the Arkansas Public School Resource Center in 2008. The center was established to provide comprehensive services to advance and support school choice initiative and the implementation of high-quality open enrollment public charter schools in Arkansas, as well as providing a variety of support services critical to the fiscal and academic success of rural public schools in the state.
The foundation also accepted more than $7.5 million in planned gifts which matured over the course of the campaign. The estate of Jake and Mary Ellen White Crow directed a bequest of more than $4.2 million to the university to be used for scholarships for descendents of the family, as well as students from Phillips and Faulkner counties.
Since the fundraising efforts began in 2004, the amount of scholarship funds annually awarded to students through the foundation has nearly doubled to more than $474,000. The number of students receiving private scholarships has also continued to climb. This academic year, the university awarded private scholarships to 321 UCA students, 42 percent more students than in 2004-05.