University Star

University President Denise Trauth announced at Saturday’s Alumni Association Scholarship Gala that anonymous donors have pledged to give $6 million for the “Pride in Action” campaign.

“These donors are very familiar with our university and our ‘Pride in Action’ campaign,” Trauth said during the gala. “They want our alumni and friends to join them in maximizing the gift of giving. For every gift of $10,000 or more made between Feb. 1 and the completion of our ‘Pride in Action’ campaign to any pillar: academic excellence, performing arts, athletics, the alumni center or the library, these donors have agreed to make the same gift to a pillar of their choice.”

The “Pride in Action” campaign is designed to promote the five key areas of university involvement.

Funding an academic pillar goes towards endowing chairs and professorships, research funding and scholarships. The athletic pillar involves upgrading current facilities and increasing scholarship support. Financial support for the library provides new repository space, information technology and teaching methods.

Ted McKinnon, assistant vice president for development and university advancement, said the anonymous donors are a mixture of alumni and university supporters.

The “Pride in Action” campaign, which does not become public until 2010, was kicked off March 2006.

Ted McKinnon, assistant vice president for development and university advancement, said officials hope to generate 60 percent of their campaign funding before 2010. He said no specific monetary goal has been determined yet.

Jerry and Linda Fields, Southwest Texas alumni, donated $2.1 million to the university’s McCoy College of Business Administration to endow two faculty chairs, kicking off the campaign. The couple serves as the campaign chairs.

According to Trauth’s “State of the University” given in August, the Fields pledged a $250,000 challenge grant for a permanent tribute to the Strutters in a new Alumni Center and purchased 1,200 football season tickets to donate to recent Texas State graduates.

McKinnon said Texas State administration is looking for individuals to continue the financial giving.

“We’ll go out to our alums, friends of university and lay out needs to them,” McKinnon said. “Right now we have identified individuals who can possibly make a 6-figure gift.”

McKinnon said university officials have been visiting with the anonymous donors about the campaign’s focus for “quite some time” and does not anticipate the university administration will have difficulty raising $6 million in the coming years to match the donors’ bid.

“The one thing people need to understand is it is not a matching gift, it is a challenge gift,” McKinnon said. “When the $10,000 is given to university the donators will give the like amount to where they want it to go. If I were to give $10,000 to the library they would give the same amount, but maybe they decide they want to give to academic excellence.”

McKinnon said the university will provide updates on the campaigns’ progress.

Trauth said though it is a difficult economic period, she hopes others will “saddle up for the challenge.”

“The anonymous challenge that I am announcing this evening is proof that neither fundraising nor campaigning seizes during tough economic times,” she said during the address.