University launches $1.75 billion fundraising campaign

An aim to strengthen the core student experience

By Katie Wagner, Staff Writer
   Princeton University is officially launching a five-year fundraising campaign today called “Aspire: A Plan for Princeton,” with a $1.75 billion goal.
   The campaign will focus on strengthening the core Princeton experience; providing unrestricted funds through the Annual Giving program, a fundraising program that provides alumni and friends opportunities to donate unrestricted money directly to the university’s operating budget; and raising funds to enhance university programs in areas it has identified as critical.
   There are six fundraising goals: $250 million for Annual Giving; $325 million for engineering, energy and the environment; $325 million for exploration in the arts; $300 for neuroscience, genomics and theoretical physics; $300 for language studies, study abroad opportunities, international collaborations, multidisciplinary programs in international and regional studies and the Center for African American Studies; and $250 million for sustaining and strengthening the Princeton experience, which encompasses a variety of areas, with some funds dedicated to financial aid, teaching and campus and residential life.
   ”Princeton aspires to make the world a better place through the power of the mind and the imagination, the insights and discoveries of its faculty, and the contributions of its alumni in their careers and communities,” said Shirley M. Tilghman, the university’s president. “If we want to open the doors of opportunity even wider and continue to provide the best possible learning environment for our students and faculty, we must constantly be moving forward. Through this campaign, we’re encouraging all Princetonians to help shape the future of the University by providing the resources necessary to meet its highest priorities.”
   Alumni volunteers will help conduct the campaign, under the leadership of co-chairs Robert S. Murley of the class of 1972 and Nancy B. Peretsman of the class of 1976. During the first two years of the campaign, the university’s Annual Giving effort will be led by Rajiv Vinnakota of the class of 1993.
   ”There are areas, even areas of great strength, where Princeton must make strategic investments to stay on the cutting edge,” said Mr. Murley, a longtime university trustee. “Quality is expensive, and Princeton’s stellar faculty, outstanding undergraduate and graduate programs, and commitment to teaching and research on the frontiers of human knowledge require significant resources.”
   A “quiet phase” of fundraising that began in July 2005 already has secured $600 million in gifts and pledges toward the overall campaign goal. According to the campaign co-chairs, meeting the $1.75 billion goal will require support from donors dedicated to Princeton’s mission and to ensuring that the university continues to conduct research on the frontiers of knowledge and produce leaders in their career fields and communities.
   With the goal of enabling all students to participate in the arts, a $101 million gift from Peter B. Lewis, a 1955 graduate and university trustee, contributed to the advance fund of the campaign and helped establish the university’s new Center for the Creative and Performing Arts.
   The campaign is Princeton’s fourth and largest formal fundraising campaign in its 261-year history. It is a comprehensive campaign, which means that it is seeking to raise unrestricted funds through each year’s Annual Giving campaign, as well as dedicated funds to create endowed positions and programs, and to support new and existing initiatives, major building, infrastructure and other capital projects.
   The most recent campaign, the 1995-2000 Anniversary Campaign for Princeton, which marked Princeton’s 250th anniversary, raised $1.14 billion, exceeding its initial goal of $750 million and its revised goal of $900 million.