UofL increases capital campaign goal

The University of Louisville is adding some zeros to the largest fundraising campaign in its history. The university’s Board of Trustees today approved upping the campaign's previously announced $750,000,000 goal to $1 billion.

UofL President James Ramsey said he’s excited about the board’s support.

“A year ago our consultant recommended that our goal be $600 million,” Ramsey said. “Today we’ve blown past $500 million and the Board of Trustees has again encouraged us to set an aggressive goal and continue to move our university forward.”

UofL officials kicked off the campaign—Charting Our Course-The Campaign for Kentucky's Premier Metropolitan Research University—last November and have raised $518 million so far. The campaign was slated to end by June 2013 but will be extended to June 2014 in conjunction with the new billion-dollar goal.

The money raised will go toward student services, scholarships, research and retention of UofL’s outstanding faculty.

“There is still much to do to reach our goals,” Ramsey said. “We are, and will continue to be, challenged by tightening budgets and decreasing state support—a fact that makes this campaign that much more urgent.”

Chairmen for the campaign are Owsley Brown Frazier, UofL Board of Trustees chairman; Henry Heuser, UofL Board of Overseers chairman; and Chester Porter, UofL Foundation chairman.

To learn more about the campaign, see www.chartingourcourse.org or contact Keith Inman, vice president for university advancement, at 502-852-6924.