SWT exceeds Centennial fund-raising goal
SAN MARCOS, TEXAS — Southwest Texas State University has exceeded the goal for its first capital fund-raising campaign by raising $67.5 million toward its $60 million goal.
President Jerome H. Supple announced the figure -- $67,553,008 -- at a donor appreciation dinner Feb. 27 on campus. The Centennial Campaign was launched officially in October 1996, with the goal to be reached by the university‘s Centennial year 1999.
The total included several large gifts, the largest two from the Roy F. and Joann Cole Mitte Foundation of Austin -- $12.5 million for scholarships to academically talented students and $5 million for academic chairs.
Also noted by Supple was the $5 million raised from the “family campaign,” the effort among SWT‘s current and retired faculty and staff headed by long-time faculty member Luan Brunson. “We asked Luan to think about a goal of $3 million. She met with her committee and came back to us with a goal of $5 million. They reached that goal,” said Supple.
The university is now preparing for the second phase of the campaign.
“When we were planning this campaign, we identified $117 million in needs of various kinds,” said Gerald Hill, vice president for university advancement. “We decided at that time to focus on the needs that had the greatest impact on academics. Now we need to focus on phase 2, and it‘s athletics turn.”
That means, he said, raising $5.25 million for facilities improvements.
“We always say that athletics is not the most important part of the institutional house, but it is the front porch,” Hill continued. “Our vision is to move SWT to the next level in athletics.”