Unbridled Opportunity: The Second Century Campaign Launch

With fanfare, balloons, confetti, music and a call to action, the University announced its commitment to achieve a dramatic increase in academic quality and impact.

“Today we stand as the bridge between the SMU of 100 years ago and the SMU of 100 years from now. Our second
century awaits with new challenges and opportunities,” President R. Gerald Turner told the crowd of faculty, staff, students, alumni and donors. “The responsibility to continue SMU’s rising quality now rests with us, and we will boldly answer the call.”

Fred Hegi (standing), campaign steering committee co-chair for Dedman College, and Dedman Dean Cordelia Chávez Candelaria (left), present the College’s priorities to the Campaign Leadership Council and Steering Committees.

The campaign seeks $750 million for student scholarships, endowed faculty positions and academic programs, and enhancements to the campus experience. The campaign already is off to a running start, with 29,488 donors providing $317 million in commitments during the two-year quiet phase of the campaign. This includes 49 donors who have made commitments of $1 million and above.

“This campaign will strengthen our ability to enable the best students to attend SMU and the most distinguished faculty to teach and inspire them through challenging academic programs,” Turner said. “As a University we cannot stand still. We must remain vital and relevant to meet the emerging needs of our students. And we must play a greater leadership role in supporting our region as a center of commerce and a gateway to the global community. The Second Century Campaign represents a great opportunity to shape our future with confidence and optimism.”

The campaign includes ambitious goals for alumni participation. It seeks to have 25 percent of all alumni make contributions every year, and to have 50 percent of all alumni give over the lifetime of the campaign. “No matter what the size of their gifts, alumni participation will represent satisfaction with the SMU education they received. It also will show an understanding that when they were students, they were the beneficiaries of alumni giving,” said Connie Blass O’Neill (’77), president of the SMU Alumni Board. “It’s a cycle of support that represents the best of SMU spirit.”

Gerald J. Ford (’66, ’69), SMU trustee and convening co-chair of the campaign, said the new effort is befitting a university with high aspirations. “The campaign’s theme, SMU Unbridled, reflects the bold vision of our founders as they looked at the North Texas prairie and envisioned a great university there,” he said. “SMU’s founders were daring, imaginative and creative, and they saw unlimited potential in what they were establishing. We’re going to take that drive and aggressively carry it forward.“

Logo T-shirts were distributed during the event.

Toward that end, SMU has hit its stride with significant progress in recent years. For example, gifts during the campaign’s quiet phase have endowed a seventh school for SMU – the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development – with a $20 million gift from Harold and Annette Simmons (’57). Also in the quiet phase, SMU received the largest gift ever made by The Meadows Foundation – $33 million for the Meadows Museum and Meadows School of the Arts.

Other quiet phase gifts have resulted in a newly endowed academic department, the Roy Huffington Department of Earth Sciences in Dedman College; five academic institutes, centers and initiatives, such as the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education; nine endowed faculty positions; 175 endowed scholarships; and seven new or renovated facilities, such as the upcoming Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall for Perkins School of Theology and Caruth Hall for the Lyle School of Engineering.

Students and faculty, as well as staff, alumni and donors, attended the launch event.

With more emphasis on merit scholarships, SMU has seen its entering SAT scores rise 97 points in the past decade. In addition, SMU prevailed in the statewide competition to house the George W. Bush Presidential Library, which will provide historic resources for research by scholars worldwide as it contributes to the strength of the Dallas economy.

“The Board of Trustees believes that SMU has all the ingredients for a major leap in academic excellence, and it’s our commitment to accelerate this momentum,” said SMU Board Chair Carl Sewell (’66), a co-chair of the campaign. “Our recent improvements in student quality show us that SMU increasingly attracts the best students, and we must provide scholarships that remove financial barriers for these talented young people. They will be inspired by faculty who excel at teaching and creating new knowledge, and they will benefit from a campus experience that develops leadership skills.”

In addition to Ford and Sewell, campaign co-chairs include Ruth Altshuler (’48), Ray L. Hunt (’65) and Caren H. Prothro, all SMU trustees. They lead the 15-member Campaign Leadership Council guiding 39 Steering Committee co-chairs who support fund-raising efforts focused on the various SMU schools and programs on campus, and in cities and regions beyond Dallas. To date the campaign has enlisted 327 volunteers throughout the world.

Moody Coliseum was transformed into an elegant dining area, where faculty, students and staff mingled after the campaign kickoff.

SMU Vice President for Development and External Affairs Brad Cheves said the campaign will benefit from long-standing supporters and from newcomers to the SMU donor family. “We have a solid volunteer structure that will take this campaign across the globe, and we expect broad participation among our more than 100,000 alumni.”

SMU’s last campaign, “A Time to Lead,” ran from 1997-2002 and was the first successful campaign in the University’s history. That campaign set an initial goal of $300 million but succeeded in raising $542 million in the five-year time frame. The campaign funded 80 endowments for academic programs, 171 student scholarships and awards, 28 campus life initiatives, 16 academic positions and 14 new or renovated facilities.

The Second Century Campaign places more emphasis on endowments for people and programs, although some new facilities are included to support academic programs. “Endowments are essential in providing long-term resources that grow over time and ensure economic stability,” Turner said. SMU’s endowment of $1.4 billion currently ranks 54th among institutions nationally. “But because much of the endowment is targeted to specific programs, we need additional endowment funds to support new initiatives. That’s what this campaign is all about.“