Marquette University announced Thursday that it has raised $767 million for its “Time to Rise” fundraising campaign, exceeding the goal university leaders set roughly eight years ago for the effort.
Launched privately in 2016, and publicly announced in August 2021, the campaign set out to raise $750 million for the campus’s “Beyond Boundaries” strategic plan, which aims to raise funds for enriching and expanding student opportunities, supporting teacher-scholars, fostering university-wide innovation, and transforming the campus environment. Projects supported by the campaign have included, O’Brien Hall, the $60 million College of Business Administration facility completed in January 2023.
Marquette University President Michael Lovell shared the fundraising news with the campus community during his 10th annual presidential address on Wednesday, while emphasizing that “more significant opportunities and needs remain.” He challenged the Marquette community to drive toward the completion of the campaign in June 2024
More than 68,000 donors have contributed to Time to Rise to date, according to Marquette, with more than 51% of them being first-time donors to the university. Of the $767 million raised to date, more than $304 million has been given to support student scholarships.
“When we first envisioned this remarkable effort, we had one overriding principle to lean on: belief,” Lovell said. “Across our world, the Marquette community of alumni, parents and friends displays profound passion. We are filled with the spirit of gratitude and want to thank our entire Marquette community for their philanthropic support that helped us reach this important milestone.”
Underway privately since 2016, the campaign raised $453 million in its first five years alone.
Major gifts during that time included a $31 million gift to support nursing scholarships and gifts to build the new business school.
But the university has also faced challenges during that period, including eliminating 39 positions to address budget shortfalls, which prompted a group of tenure and tenure-track faculty to pen an open letter expressing their concerns about the plan.
Other highlights
Lovell also used his Wednesday address to highlight other developments on campus, including a partnership agreement with Green Bay-based Fork Farms. As part of the deal the indoor hydroponics company will develop several flex farms on campus for growing fresh food to help address food scarcity in the community.
Fiscal year 2022 was also a good one for research growth on campus, he said, with the university surpassing $40 million in research and development expenditures and setting a record with $15.3 million in new research funding.
Additionally, Marquette’s Student Success Initiative is closing the equity gap with a record setting retention rate of 91.4% for first-year retention, the highest since the university started recording this metric 20 years ago, Lovell said.
The Lemonis Center for Student Success, a new hub for campuswide services slated to open later this year, is expected to make it even easier for Marquette students to ask for help and successfully find it, he said.
