FAYETTEVILLE -- The stars will align Sept. 16 inside Bud Walton Arena, just one of a multitude of meticulously spelled-out set and stage requirements for the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville's gala fundraising night.
UA has published a request for proposals seeking technical wizards to help create a top-notch Campaign Arkansas event. The fundraising drive has already begun, but a "magnificent gala" -- to use UA's description in bid documents -- will provide the setting for an announcement of the university's fundraising goal.
UA's last major fundraising drive, from 1998 to 2005, raised $1.046 billion, the university has said. Mark Rushing, a UA spokesman, said the university more than a year ago established a working goal of $1 billion through 2021 for Campaign Arkansas, though he said the goal could change.
"I wouldn't anticipate it going down," Rushing said.
University leaders are also dreaming big for the upcoming kickoff event. Plans call for the home of Razorback basketball to be re-imagined in an outdoor theme, with a floor covering to resemble a grass lawn. An image of UA's Old Main building will be projected onto a stage screen.
"Guests should feel as if they have been transported into a warm, inviting outdoor space that transitions from daytime to nighttime over the course of the event while never leaving the arena floor," states an introductory line in UA's invitation for bids.
The university's vision includes some specific elements, such as "night sounds of crickets, frogs, etc. that begin to be heard at some point in the transition from daytime to nighttime." Fourteen artificial trees resembling maples will be strategically placed throughout the venue, while eight wooden park-type benches will also add to the ambiance.
Lining three sides of the stage will be green shrubbery, of "thickness to be determined."
Also represented will be a version of Senior Walk, the walkways engraved with the names of graduates -- a tradition that started in front of Old Main. For Sept. 16, plans call for a tree-lined entrance to the arena floor with a walkway leading to the stage. This walkway will feature the names of UA's fundraising volunteer committee members.
With UA seeking bids, the exact cost of the event is yet to be determined. Rushing said the cost will be covered by private donations made specifically for the campaign launch and also funds from the University of Arkansas Foundation, a public charity.
Tim Seiler, a professor of philanthropic studies at Indiana University, said celebratory dinners are common for universities making major fundraising announcements, whatever the cost of such events.
"You'll spend now on the basis that you're going to raise so much more than you would otherwise," Seiler said, with the events designed to stir up excitement among various university constituencies.
"Certainly, it's about the money that you're going to raise. But I think as much as anything else, it's about really raising the bar for the university, to go to the next level in excellence in wherever they find themselves in the pantheon of universities," Seiler said.
For the UA event, plans call for daytime clouds and, later, moon-and-stars imagery to be projected onto fabric or similar material suspended above the event floor. As the night progresses, the moon will transition across the room. Then there will emerge a special Razorback-shaped constellation, a shimmering sight for what UA is hoping will be a sparkling night.
Metro on 03/20/2016