Through the most challenging economic times in recent memory, the University of Connecticut Foundation nearly achieved its ambitious goal for fiscal 2009, receiving $48.5 million in new gifts and commitments, revocable and deferred planned gifts, and pledge payments (read story). Across the University, private giving played a major role in new initiatives to serve UConn’s missions of education, research and public service.
Adjusting to the Times
The severe economic downturn of 2008–2009 forced the Foundation to examine new ways to cut costs, find new revenue streams and make operations more efficient. Although donors were affected by the economy, a common theme emerged that the UConn community understands that today, more than ever, private support can help provide opportunity to students, faculty and researchers in these tough times.
The largest individual donor of fiscal 2009, School of Medicine alumna Elizabeth Swallow ’83, M.D., put it best:
“The reason I’m letting [my gift] be announced now is that because times are so bad, my gift could spur other people to give. To me, it’s criminal to think there are talented people out there who can’t do something, like afford college, because they don’t have the money. So I think that the people who can do so should pass it forward to repay what’s been given to them.”
Major Gifts
Swallow’s gift was the largest of the fiscal year, and supports scholarships and professorships at the UConn Health Center, as well as the drive to create an “All-Steinway School” in the School of Fine Arts (read story).
Partly because of President Michael J. Hogan’s President’s Challenge Award (read story), scholarship support seemed particularly meaningful to donors this year, with six of the top ten recorded donations having a scholarship or graduate fellowship component.
The Travelers Connecticut Foundation, the charitable arm of Travelers, announced a new multi-year commitment to enhance academic, outreach and diversity programs. This commitment of up to $1.6 million will be used to expand the successful Travelers Education Access Initiative (TEAI) at UConn, established by the company last year with gifts totaling $630,000. (read story)
A $1.8-millon gift from James Draper, Jr. will establish a scholarship for financially needy students of high scholastic standing who graduated from the Gilbert School in Winsted or Northwestern Regional School in Barkhamsted.
Retired Department of Environmental Protection Forester George Cloutier ’49 established a scholarship to be given to meritorious undergraduate students who demonstrate financial need and want to focus in forest resources. Mr. Cloutier was motivated to give back to UConn for the education he received and to help support the future of the institution.
Anonymous donors made significant gifts in FY09, including one from an alumni family at the UConn Health Center (read story) to support medical students entering the field of women’s health. Other anonymous gifts established a summer fellowship in biochemistry and scholarships in both the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Faculty support also was a priority for major donors, who understand that the economic times have had an effect on research funding from public sources.
Janet and Mark L. Goldenson provided a $1-million gift to provide opportunities for students and faculty to work closely with financial services companies in the Hartford area, as well as research issues in actuarial science and risk management. The Janet and Mark L. Goldenson Research Center in the Actuarial Science Program of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has been renamed in their honor.
Other gifts to support faculty include a $1-million professorship in humanistic anthropology and an endowed chair in electrical engineering in the School of Engineering, both funded by anonymous donors.
Annual Giving Finishes Strong
The annual giving program experienced a strong year, raising $5.56 million from more than 26,100 households. The student calling program generated more than 17 percent of the total amount raised and connected with nearly 89,000 alumni, parents and friends.
Challenges and Opportunity at the UConn Health Center
Building on the 2008 Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE) report on the future of the UConn Health Center, extensive negotiations and work was performed in 2008–2009 on a proposed regional partnership between the Health Center and Hartford Hospital. At the time of writing, legislative action was pending to help determine the future of the state’s academic medical center.
Athletic Success on the Field and in the Classroom
It was another outstanding year for athletic and academic success. UConn competed in NCAA championship play in four team sports and four individual sports, highlighted by the sixth national title for our women's basketball team and the third appearance in the Final Four for the men’s basketball team. The football team made its second consecutive bowl appearance and third in five years, winning the 2009 International Bowl in Toronto. Husky teams captured a total of five Big East Championships. UConn had an impressive 15 All-America selections during the past year. In the classroom, nearly 50 percent of UConn’s 650 student-athletes achieved at least a 3.0 (B or better) grade point average, including 18 who achieved a perfect 4.0 grade point average.
The UConn Club marked its fifty-sixth year of supporting student-athletes in 2009. Over the past 10 years, more than $130 million has been generated by nearly 6,000 annual donors to assist UConn in providing an exceptional college experience to the young men and women who proudly wear the Husky uniform.
Our University. Our Moment.
This fall, UConn will publicly launch a $600-million capital campaign, entitled Our University. Our Moment. The Campaign for UConn. The campaign comes on the heels of UConn’s unprecedented physical transformation through UCONN 2000 and 21st Century UConn and aims to secure its position among the top 20 U.S. public research universities.