SILOAM SPRINGS -- John Brown University will attempt to raise $125 million in time for the private, Christian school's centennial celebration in 2019.
"It will be the largest capital campaign in JBU's history," President Chip Pollard said Wednesday at the on-campus Berry Performing Arts Center, in announcing the goal.
He spoke at the start of a public fundraising period and said that more than $58 million has already been raised toward that goal since 2012 as part of the university's seven-year Campaign for the Next Century: A Hope and A Future.
Pollard described the beginnings of the school and founder John Brown's desire to "provide Christian education for young people who stood absolutely without financial support." The school opened in September 1919 as a nondenominational Christian school and remains nondenominational.
The university now has more than 85 percent of students receiving financial aid, Pollard said, with more than a quarter of those enrolled being eligible for Pell grants offered by the federal government to low-income students.
"The Campaign for the Next Century will strengthen our commitment to keep JBU affordable, with almost half of our $125 million campaign goal dedicated to providing more money for student scholarships," Pollard said.
As part of the fundraising campaign, JBU seeks to raise $35 million for scholarships and $25 million in estate gifts for future endowment. In an interview, Pollard said JBU's total endowment now is about $97 million, adding that endowed funds are becoming more crucial for colleges and universities.
Enrollment stands at 2,371 students, including 603 graduate students. Pollard, in the interview, said the campaign target comes without new enrollment goals but that JBU hopes to continue adding 15 to 20 students each year as it has done for the past eight to 10 years.
"We know we have to raise this money to continue to grow," he said in the interview.
Also as part of the campaign, Pollard announced Wednesday, JBU seeks to raise $30 million for new and renovated facilities, including the establishment of a $12 million fund for a new nursing building set to break ground in August as the home of a new nursing degree program. Within the campaign, JBU also is seeking to raise $25 million for future projects and operating support as well as $10 million for academic excellence and faculty.
Pollard announced several gifts and pledges, with the crowd of mostly JBU students and faculty and staff members cheering the loudest and the longest at the announcement of an anonymous $2 million gift to create the Charles Peer Endowed Chair in Visual Arts in honor of the co-founder of JBU's visual arts department.
Along with the gift, already received by JBU, Pollard announced a challenge grant supporting art student scholarships that will match dollar-for-dollar JBU's fundraising when it hits a target of $1 million.
Pollard's announcement came as a surprise to Peer, whose pastel landscapes featuring vibrant colors have gained renown in various art competitions and exhibits.
Peer, in between greeting well-wishers after the presentation, said his mind "is a little blown" by the news. He joined JBU in 1987 and co-founded the art department in 1990 with Dave Andrus. It had only six students but now enrolls nearly 250 students.
"Never in my wildest imagination could I have envisioned the blessings that we have received, not just as a department but as the whole school," said Peer, who will be the first holder of the endowed chair.
Other announcements made by Pollard were for a $1.2 million anonymous lead gift to help pay for renovations to the university's campus fitness center. Siloam Springs city government has also made a preliminary commitment of $500,000 to help with the project, Pollard said, noting that the community makes use of an indoor pool that's part of the facility.
Pollard also announced a $300,000 gift from the Soderquist Family Foundation to support JBU's Donald G. Soderquist College of Business, with the money to be used to develop new programs, "possibly in areas such as retail analytics and and entrepreneurial studies."
The university is counting several recent facilities projects as part of the campaign, including a 600-person banquet facility called Simmons Great Hall and a $5.5 million renovation to men's dormitory J. Alvin Brown Hall.
"The rooms are bigger," said Jacob Houston, a sophomore who described how the renovations eliminated an "old musty" smell from the building.
He had been speaking with freshman Levi Perryman, who praised JBU's affordability. JBU's tuition, fees and room and board total $32,056 per year before taking into consideration financial aid, but Perryman said that, with scholarships, he is able to attend for less than if he enrolled in the public University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, which charges about $10,000 a year in tuition, fees and room and board.
"It's been huge for me," Perryman said about the financial aid he has received from JBU.
The campaign follows a successful $100 million fundraising campaign that began in 2005. That campaign ended in 2011, one year earlier than expected after JBU raised $118 million.
Metro on 01/22/2015