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FIU Exceeds Campaign Goal
$205 Million in Gifts Sets Record for 28-year-old University
MIAMI, Fla., (Feb. 19, 2001) - Leaders of Florida International
University announced today that the $200 million "Campaign for FIU"
has surpassed its unprecedented goal, 1½ years ahead of schedule.
Recent cash gifts and commitments - most notably, a grant worth
$10 million from the H. Wallace Coulter Foundation announced earlier
this month -- have pushed the total raised since the launch of the
campaign five years ago to more than $205 million.
The campaign's largest single gift was The Wolfsonian-FIU, a Miami
Beach museum and research center donated by Mitchell Wolfson Jr.
that boasts the world's largest and most acclaimed collection of
decorative arts, material culture and design from the 1885-1945
period.
The Wolfsonian-FIU was valued at $75 million when it was donated
to the university in 1997 (www.wolfsonian.org).
Campaign gifts have made possible, among other things, a long list
of major capital and programmatic improvements at FIU, including:
the Steven and Dorothea Green Library, the Herbert and Nicole Wertheim
Performing Arts Center, the Paul L. Cejas Architecture Building,
the Roz and Cal Kovens Conference Center, the Sanford and Dolores
Ziff and Family Education Building and the Ryder Business Building.
The campaign also created an unprecedented financial base of support
for academic programs at FIU. Sufficient funds were raised, for
instance, to endow 20 chairs in Business, Education, Engineering
and Hospitality Management.
Interest earned on endowed-chair gifts is used to attract preeminent
scholars in a wide range of disciplines, improving the overall quality
of the FIU faculty as well as attracting top students to study under
them. Nearly $18 million more was raised in support of scholarships,
giving the university leverage to entice more of the best and brightest
students to enroll at FIU.
"We asked this community to invest in the promise of this university,
and this is the overwhelming response," said FIU President Modesto
A. Maidique. "Not only did our supporters exceed the original goal
of $65 million, they've now surpassed the twice-increased goal of
$200 million and continue to give. I believe that that the university's
success of the past year shows that theirs were wise investments."
Of the $205 million raised thus far, 56 percent came from individuals.
Corporate giving totals comprise 24 percent of the total, while
foundations account for 19 percent. Cash gifts comprise the majority
of campaign donations, with gifts-in-kind, such as donated services
or property, making up just under half of the total.
Both Maidique and FIU Vice President for Advancement Dale Chapman
Webb said the university's campaign leadership was key to the effort's
success. The FIU Board of Trustees and campaign officers were the
foundation of the multi-year initiative. "Through the example of
their commitment to the university, our volunteer leadership helps
the greater community understand the importance of supporting FIU,"
said Maidique. Added Webb, "The tremendous involvement of our trustees
made this effort possible. We're deeply grateful for their generosity,
both in terms of the countless hours and the funds each has given."
Webb said the campaign was scheduled to run through 2002, but succeeded
early. Plans still call, however, for it to continue through June
30 (the end of the university's fiscal year).
"Even though we've surpassed our goal, we're finding that the university's
achievements in 2000 have built a strong sense of momentum," said
Carlos Migoya, campaign co-chairman and chairman of the FIU Board
of Trustees development committee, noting that $18 million has already
been raised in the current fiscal year. Migoya added, "People are
eager to become part of this amazing institution. This campaign
has given many of them a great way to get involved, and we think
that opportunity should continue for another 10 months."
Opened in 1972, FIU is now among the nation's 20 largest universities
and the youngest with both the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement
of Teaching's "extensive" rating and a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.
For more information on FIU, visit www.fiu.edu
or news.fiu.edu.
Media contacts:
Todd Martinez-Padilla Simmons
FIU
305-348-2716
Ann Smith
Baptist Health Systems
305-596-1960 ext. 6654
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