PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 20, No. 7, Oct. 5, 2000

Campaign Illinois reaches $1.454 billion with active endowment at $950.5 million

Before nearly 650 members of the UI Foundation and its Presidents Council Sept. 22, UI President James J. Stukel announced that the $1 billion Campaign Illinois fund drive had surpassed its goal by nearly $455 million as of Aug. 31.

Stukel said the extended goal of the campaign to raise the combined university and foundation active endowment to $1 billion alone now stood at $950.5 million.

The campaign total Aug. 31 was $1,454,819,282 with more than $1.045 billion of gifts already paid.

The active endowment – funds already invested and earning income for donor-designated UI programs – totaled $950,472,515 as of Aug. 31.

"The great success of Campaign Illinois is a testament to the deep and abiding importance the University of Illinois holds for so many alumni, friends and corporate and foundation sponsors," said Stukel, an alumnus of the Urbana-Champaign campus. "To all who have honored us with a gift, we say ‘Thank you’ and pledge to be wise stewards.

"One of the happiest outcomes of Campaign Illinois is that the foundation and the university, working together, have enlarged the total endowment four-fold. Endowment – the gift that keeps on giving – guarantees that in the future our students will have merit scholarships and fellowships, our faculty will have chairs and professorships to support their critical work in the classrooms and labs of our three campuses, our libraries will be up-to-date and our many academic programs will be both comprehensive and of the highest quality. Though Campaign Illinois will end in a few months, we will make every effort to expand the endowment even more in the coming years."