John Brown University Announces $125 Million Capital Campaign

John Brown University on Wednesday announced details of a $125 million capital campaign to be completed by the school’s centennial in 2019.

The Campaign for The Next Century: A Hope and Future will secure financial commitments in five areas: $35 million for scholarships, $30 million for new and renovated facilities, $10 million to endow academic excellence, $25 million in estate gifts for future endowment, and $25 million for future projects and operating support.

To date, $58.3 million has be given or pledged to the campaign, including nearly $5 million in previously unannounced gifts that were revealed at the campaign launch event Wednesday at the Berry Performing Arts Center on the JBU campus in Siloam Springs.

The new gifts include:

• An anonymous $2 million gift to create the Charles Peer Endowed Chair in Visual Arts
• An anonymous $1 million gift challenge grant for visual arts scholarships for students in visual arts
• An anonymous $1.2 million gift for the renovation of the Walton Lifetime Health Complex
• A gift from the Soderquist Family Foundation for $300,000 for a Strategic Initiative Fund for the Soderquist College of Business
• A preliminary commitment of $500,000 from the City of Siloam Springs for the WLHC

Wednesday’s announcement moves the seven-year campaign from its private phase, which began in 2012, into its public phase.

The campaign is scheduled for completion at JBU’s centennial celebration in 2019.