Over the top at $1,371,837,199—the total gift from 250,000 donors! That was the "special moment in Michigan history" that was celebrated Sept. 26 during three days of activities heralding the conclusion of the Campaign for Michigan.
Launched in October 1992 with a $1 billion goal, it is the most successful fund-raising effort in the University’s history and the largest ever completed by an American public university.
The to-date tally was announced in a dramatic presentation at the Power Center for the Performing Arts—"Team Michigan. The Victory Celebration"— a tug-at-the-heartstrings multimedia presentation that carried with it a great sense of teamwork and community.
Ira Harris and Mike Wallace (above) lead the Team Michigan Victory Celebration (right) at the Power Center for the Performing Arts. |
 |
Streaming from shuttle buses that ferried them from area hotels, major donors, faculty and staff invited to the event approached the Power Center in a checkerboard of maize and blue apparel. They were greeted by a steel drum band outside, and enjoyed renditions by the U-M Jazz Ensemble inside while waiting for the show to begin.
Emceed by campaign co-chair U-M alumnus Mike Wallace, the show interspersed excerpts from "This Is the Moment" with heartfelt statements by a group of students on what the support made possible by the campaign has meant to them.
The campaign was designed during three days of intensive meetings in fall 1990, sessions that included a lot of number-crunching and priority-setting to ensure that the long list of needs identified by campus units could be met by the campaign.
As the tally kept increasing, co-chair Ira Harris said, "Why not go for a billion?" His "co-conspirators," Wallace said, met that statement with a moment of quiet disbelief, followed by some low-key chuckling. What the heck, the group decided. "Think big, think blue, think billion—and we embarked on our greatest adventure."
Volunteer co-chairs for the campaign were alumnus Allan D. Gilmour, retired vice chairman of Ford Motor Co. and director of Ford; alumnus J. Ira Harris, senior partner in the international investment banking firm of Lazard Freres and Co. in Chicago; Margaret A. (Ranny) Riecker of Midland, president of the Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation and trustee of the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation; former head football coach and athletic director Bo Schembechler; and alumnus Mike Wallace of New York, correspondent with CBS News/60 Minutes. Thomas C. Kinnear serves as U-M vice president for development.
The Campaign for Michigan is the third fund-raising drive undertaken by the University. The first, launched in 1964, raised $72 million in three years, surpassing a target of $55 million. The total was a record among public universities that stood for a decade. In 1983, the first Campaign for Michigan was launched, raising $187 million against a goal of $160 million.
The $1.37 billion tally-to-date includes $1,069,553,962 in new gifts and pledges and $302,283,237 in new bequest intentions.
. . . Fall 1997
