University kicks off fundraiser

    The record Murray State fundraising campaign called “Hold Thy Banner High: The Campaign for the Students of Murray State University,” publicly launches today at noon by the University Development Center headed by vice president of the office of development Bob Jackson.
    “We’ll move into the public phase this Friday of Homecoming weekend at a kick-off luncheon,” University President Randy Dunn said, “and we’ll be in the public phase for a period for three years, ending Dec. 31, 2012.”
    Jackson, a former Kentucky Senator, has worked closely with department board members and other administrators on this campaign since its beginning on Jan. 1, 2005.
    The state-appropriated funds for every public university are decreasing, and universities are limited to the amount tuition that can be raised annually, Jackson said.
    “As we look at state appropriations, it’s not going to come from there; they’ve been declining,” Dunn said.  “We have to take better control of our own financial destiny to maintain that level of excellence that our community expects from us.”
     “As state funding has trended downward, the support of private donors has played an increasing role in sustaining the University’s health and progress,” the Capital Campaign booklet stated.
    The monetary goal of the campaign is $60 million with 44.2 percent going toward student scholarships and 33.3 percent to help achieve academic excellence, Jackson said.
    “The financial pressures we all face today weigh most heavily on those families Murray State is dedicated to serving, particularly those who depend on scholarship support,” Dunn said in the campaign booklet. “It is for this reason that approximately half of all campaign funding will directly benefit scholarships.”
    Murray State has accepted large donations before from people such as Jessie D. Jones, 1964 graduate, after whom the new chemistry building is named, Jackson said. Many other alumni have supported Murray State in past and continue to do so, he said.
    “I left Murray State with the confidence that I could take on the world,” David Dill, executive vice president and chief operating officer of LifePoint Hospitals, Inc. and 1990 graduate, said in the booklet. “Now I have decided it’s time to give back.”
    “We are reaping from vines we did not tend, sitting in the shade of trees we did not plant,” Jessie D. Jones said in the booklet. “Now the burden is on us to prepare for those who are coming after us.”
    Murray State extends its hand to alumni, faculty, staff and friends to meet scholarship and academic goals, Jackson said.
    Academic success includes more than scholarships, Jackson said.
    This campaign will also increase the funding in academic areas important for student success at Murray, he said.
    Academic areas of interest such as the construction of a new campus library, study abroad scholarships, Commonwealth Honors Academy and the completion of the new science complex are presented in the goal funds.
    “The support of our donors allows us to reach further, seizing new opportunities and supporting our students more effectively as they strive to achieve success,” the booklet stated.
     Elizabeth Holbrook, sophomore from Livermore, Ky.,  received a study abroad scholarship from two of Murray State’s leading givers, Hal and Jane Seaton.
     Holbrook is studying abroad in Regensburg, Germany this fall semester with the KIIS program.
    “I’m so grateful to the Seatons and the University’s other donors who have helped me (study abroad)” Holbrook said in the booklet.
    For more information on the campaign or to see the campaign video go to murraystate.edu/campaign.
    To find a list of scholarships go to murraystate.edu/scholarships.
    Contact Cobb at ashlee.cobb@murraystate.edu.