Marquette exceeds $3 million fundraising goal

TV star Marcus Lemonis established giving challenge

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Marquette University has exceeded its $3 million giving challenge fundraising goal.

Lemonis
Marcus Lemonis

The challenge was set up by alumnus Marcus Lemonis, star of CNBC television show โ€œThe Profit,โ€ who agreed to donate $1.5 million if it was matched by an equal amount of donations from the Marquette community. It was launched Feb. 17.

Donors rose to the challenge, with 2,769 of them contributing $1,792,748 in less than two months.

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The $3 million will be used to start a student-run business program, the Marcus Lemonis student-run Pay The Profit Forward Program, in the College of Business Administration. Students can use the money to research and potentially start businesses.

โ€œMarcus has inspired our alumni from across the United States and the world, and we are incredibly grateful for his generosity,โ€ said President Michael R. Lovell. โ€œWe couldnโ€™t be more proud to launch this new student-run business program to honor his legacy.โ€

Lemonis, who stars on both โ€œThe Profitโ€ and โ€œThe Partner,โ€ is the chairman and chief executive officer of Bowling Green, Kentucky-based Camping World, the largest RV and outdoor retailer in the U.S. and Good Sam, the worldโ€™s largest RV ownersโ€™ organization. A 1995 Marquette graduate, he previously donated $300,000 to the university in a giving challenge to raise a total of $1 million.

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โ€œIt is amazing to think that Marquette will now shape the dreams of tomorrowโ€™s entrepreneurs and business leaders through a program bearing my name,โ€ Lemonis said. โ€œIt is extra rewarding for all of this to happen on the same campus where I sparked my passion.โ€

โ€œWeโ€™re delighted that Marcus Lemonis chose to invest in the College of Business Administration in this way,โ€ said Brian Till, Keyes Dean of Business Administration. โ€œThis student-run business program aligns perfectly with the collegeโ€™s emphasis on experiential learning, and Iโ€™m excited to see the ventures our students will propose, develop and manage. It will most certainly be a popular and important learning experience for students for years to come, and a distinguishing feature of a Marquette business education.โ€

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