Friday, February 18, 2011

Wilmington, N.C. - The University of North Carolina Wilmington announced the official launch of The Campaign for UNCW: Soaring to Greatness at a press conference today, Friday, Feb. 18 at the Nursing Building.

The campaign is a comprehensive fundraising effort focused on increasing private contributions to the university in priority areas. The campaign goal is to raise $65 million to benefit the university, its programs and its students, faculty and staff.

As of Jan. 31, 2011, UNCW already had raised more than $57.7 million, or nearly 89 percent of the goal, during the "quiet" phase of the campaign, which began July 1, 2005. It is common practice in higher education campaigns to raise about 70 percent of the goal prior to the public campaign launch. The final phase of the campaign is planned to end in December 2012.

"We could not be more pleased and grateful for the way our exceptionally loyal donors and alumni have stepped forward to support the university in this campaign," said Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo. "They share our vision for UNCW and its students, and they are making an investment in the university's continued success."

The campaign is raising funds in a number of areas for UNCW: Student Excellence, Academic Excellence, Faculty Excellence, Regional & Global Engagement, the Annual Fund and Athletics.

The university's number one priority is increasing the number of student scholarships. Over the past five years, donors have created more than 200 scholarships at UNCW, doubling the number available to help students complete their college degrees. With the financial stress students and their families are experiencing due to the national economic environment, many donors have indicated that supporting scholarships is a priority for them as well.

Campaign co-chairs are long-time UNCW supporters Robert F. "Bob" Warwick, former member of the UNCW Board of Trustees and the UNC Board of Governors, and John A. "Sandy" McNeill Jr., current member and past chair of the UNCW Board of Trustees. Warwick announced the campaign goals and success toward those goals at the press conference.

"To maintain UNCW's quality and affordability, the university needs a broad range of support from a variety of resources, including the state and federal governments, foundations, corporations and individual donors," Warwick said. "We think the response we've received to this campaign has been remarkable, especially in this economy. We really appreciate every gift the university has received since the campaign began."

 

For more information about The Campaign for UNCW: Soaring to Greatness, go to www.uncw.edu/campaign.

 

Media contact:
Dana Fischetti, media relations manager, 910.508.3127 or fischettid@uncw.edu