The public phase of the Western Illinois University $100 million campaign, “For the W,” was announced at a special WIU Foundation event on Founders’ Day Sept. 23.
“We are so excited to kick off Western Illinois University’s comprehensive campaign. WIU’s people – those who came before us made Western Illinois University a reality. And today, Western Illinois University success is because of our students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends,” said WIU President Guiyou Huang. “We wouldn’t be here today, 120 years after that first day of classes if we were not successful and do what we do well … and that is to educate students.
“We are confident that we will meet our campaign goal and we’re excited to share even more of the great things about WIU,” Huang added. “Our future is bright. Our future is great. And our future remains our people. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your ongoing commitment and dedication to WIU.”
To date, the quiet phase of the campaign has raised over $42 million. According to Brad Bainter, executive officer of the WIU Foundation, the “For the W” campaign focuses on four pillars: student scholarships; faculty support; technology and academic and student support programs.
“President Huang and I have been discussing the need for a comprehensive campaign since he started his presidency in January 2021. With a great start to the fall semester, including an increase in enrollment, we felt like it was time to kick off the public phase of our $100 million campaign,” Bainter said. “We’re also coming off our second best fundraising year in Western’s history and we’re almost half-way to our $100 million goal as we move to the five-year public phase.
“We’ve had great growth in our endowment over the past decade and our goal is to further grow our scholarship endowment to assist the University in attracting more students to Western,” he added. “We have outstanding programs that need support to continue to grow and improve with the ever-changing needs and demands of today’s workforce. We need Western to be strong for our community, our region, our state and for our 140,000 alumni. And we need our alumni and friends to stand up and support WIU.”
For more information on the WIU Foundation and contributing to “For the W,” visit wiu.edu/forthew/ or call (309) 298-1861. The campaign kickoff video can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPyeV_oPgOQ
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