At the end of 2007, Abilene Christian University completed the Centennial Campaign: Called to Faith and Excellence, a 7-year effort that began in 2001. With 20,000 donors contributing more than $156 million to the university, this was the most successful campaign in ACU history, said Dr. Royce Money, ACU president.Called to Faith and Excellence was the third component of a comprehensive, 15-year campaign begun in 1993. The first phase, Advancing the Changeless, raised $30 million, and the second phase, To Lead and To Serve, brought in $114 million. Combined with gifts and pledges from the Centennial Campaign, generous donors have contributed in excess of $300 million to ACU over this 15-year period. Even with uncertainty in the world, all three phases exceeded the original goals that were set.
"The Centennial Campaign was particularly difficult because of the global issues occurring at the time," said Dr. John Tyson, vice president for development at ACU. "Since 2001, the September 11th tragedy occurred, wars on Iraq and Afghanistan began, natural disasters struck and the stock market had its ups and downs. All these situations contributed to distracting donors. People have a tendency to want to defer their giving until better times. Achieving this campaign goal was God's doing."
Already, gifts from the campaign have allowed for the construction of the Diane and John Duncum Center for Conflict Resolution, the renovated Education Building, formerly known as the Burford Center, and a converged-media newsroom for the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication. The face of campus has been changed by the addition of the Lunsford Foundation Trail, the Jacob's Dream sculpture and the renovation of the Eager Tennis Pavilion. Also, ACU has recently broken ground on the $15.7 million Bob and Shirley Hunter Welcome Center, due for completion in spring 2009.
"The philanthropy that made this campaign successful is what drives the endowment fund and allows ACU to reinvest in its students," said Money. "God is faithful."
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