Philadelphia Inquirer (Pennsylvania), October 21, 2007, Sunday
Copyright 2007 Philadelphia Inquirer
Philadelphia Inquirer (Pennsylvania)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
October 21, 2007, Sunday
SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS
BYLINE: Susan Snyder, The Philadelphia Inquirer
BODY:
Oct. 21--The University of Pennsylvania yesterday announced a $3.5 billion fund-raising campaign -- its largest ever -- joining several other Ivy League institutions already well into the multibillion-dollar arena.
It's not as large as Stanford University's record $4.3 billion campaign, announced last year, but is much larger than Penn's previous formal campaign, which ended in 1994 and brought in $1.5 billion.
Thousands of students, alumni, faculty and staff crowded the West Philadelphia campus last night for the ceremonial announcement -- which coincided with homecoming weekend -- of the five-year campaign.
"We are seizing this moment, Penn's moment, the kind of seminal moment that comes along only once in a century," Penn president Amy Gutmann told the crowd from the stage, flanked by blue "Making History" banners.
The money will go toward increased financial aid, 18 new "integrated" professorships that bridge disciplines within the university, and new buildings and green space, continuing the university's expansion from University City toward Center City.
Gutmann said the university already had raised 43 percent of the goal in the two years of the "quiet phase" of the campaign, better than the norm for such lucrative efforts, national experts say.
It signals yet another positive economic development for Penn, which last month announced that its endowment for fiscal 2007 had grown more than 20 percent, to $6.6 billion. The endowment had increased 21.2 percent the previous year.
Gutmann expects the campaign to raise Penn's annual giving to a level that will continue after the fund-raising effort ends in 2012, she said.
"I don't think we'll ever want to ramp back," she said in an interview. "The pride that Penn alumni now take in Penn is a pride that is a consequence of increased momentum, and we're just going to have to continue it."
Staff members are applauding the efforts. Gutmann has promoted an "excellence to eminence" platform, said Larry Gladney, a physics and astronomy professor and chair of the faculty senate.
"When you get to eminence, you certainly wouldn't want to regress after the effort has been spent to get that far," he said.
Some students at the event, which offered free burgers, salad, drinks and other refreshments, were unsure what it all meant.
Alex Moy, 26, a graduate student from New York, heard there was "a big party on campus" and checked it out.
"It's a great cause, but at the same time, it felt a little overblown in some ways," said Maria Davydenko, 18, a freshman from Alaska.
Others favored the effort.
"If it accomplishes its goals, it's an exciting thing for the institution," said Gideon Spitzer, 19, a freshman from Los Angeles.
Gutmann soon will begin promoting the campaign on a worldwide tour of cities where large numbers of alumni are based, such as London, Hong Kong, New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago. Alumni account for about 38 percent of the money Penn raises; the national average is 30 percent.
While universities forever are raising money, a campaign renews interest in giving and almost certainly raises the level of annual donations.
"A campaign is really just trying to rachet up giving to a somewhat higher level," said Ronald G. Ehrenberg, director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute at Cornell University.
While Penn officials expect an increase in annual giving, they declined to speculate on how much. In fiscal 2006, the university received $409.4 million in total support, fourth-highest among higher-education institutions in the country, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
In the Philadelphia region, other major universities also have launched fund-raising campaigns recently. Temple University announced the first comprehensive campaign in its history, seeking $350 million -- $253 million of which already has been collected. And St. Joseph's University said it aimed to raise $150 million, with $90 million already taken in.
In the Ivy League, Columbia and Cornell announced $4 billion efforts last year, Yale launched a $3 billion one around the same time, and the buzz, according to the Chronicle, is that Harvard may be preparing to announce a $5 billion drive, taking the record from Stanford.
"For all of these institutions, what they've come to realize is the costs within higher education are going up far more quickly than the cost of living, and philanthropy is one of the main sources of support to improve their academic programs," said Bruce McClintock, chair of Marts & Lundy Inc., a fund-raising consulting company in New Jersey.
Penn didn't try to steal Stanford's crown.
"This is less about a big number and is really about the [university's) priorities," said John Zeller, vice president for development and alumni relations.
Half the money will go toward the university's endowment, which will help with new faculty and research and expanded financial aid to undergraduate, graduate and professional students. About 38 percent of students receive financial aid from Penn based on need.
Five of the 18 new professors, who bridge two disciplines, already have been hired, including former IBM standout Christopher B. Murray, known for bringing many patents to market. Murray has a joint appointment to the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Science. A cultural anthropologist and documentary filmmaker, a biomedical ethicist, a psychologist and neuroscientist, and a medical anthropologist are the others with joint appointments.
"It's terrific for the kind of university that we want to increasingly be, which is one that shows how you put knowledge into practice," Gutmann said. "All of these scholars work by integrating disciplines."
The university has increased the number of students from low-income families in the last two years. The number of admitted freshman receiving full financial aid has risen from 86 to 155. The university gives grants rather than loans to students from families with income below $60,000 to help cover the $46,124 cost of tuition, fees, and room and board. This school year, the university is spending $93.5 million on undergraduate financial aid.
Some of the money will fund new buildings and recreational space under the university's 30-year master plan. A new dormitory, a proton-therapy center, a nanoscience and technology building, a neural and behavioral science building, and the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine will be aided by the campaign. The music building also will get renovations.
The last quarter of the money raised will be for immediate use in improving general operations.
Contact staff writer Susan Snyder at 215-854-4693 or ssnyder@phillynews.com
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LOAD-DATE: October 21, 2007
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