UAs Campaign Arkansas Sets $1 Billion Fundraising Goal

Through a variety of events the weekend of Sept. 15-17, the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville formally launched a $1 billion fundraising campaign.

The drive, called “Campaign Arkansas” is already more than halfway to that goal. The UA has raised approximately $530 million in what is commonly referred to in development circles as the “quiet period,” which began July 1, 2012.

The campaign has a target date of June 30, 2020, to meet the goal.

UA Chancellor Joe Steinmetz said the campaign is critical to the future of the university. Money raised will help fund scholarships and fellowships, endowed chairs, capital projects, interdisciplinary academic programs and other priority areas that will advance the university’s goals and objectives. 

“Without increases in state funding, private fundraising is the mechanism that allows us to support student scholarships, research and innovation, study abroad opportunities, the creation of new interdisciplinary programs and the renovation of our existing facilities,” Steinmetz said in a statement.

Mark Power, the interim vice chancellor for university advancement, said the UA hopes to build on its previous $1 billion fundraising drive, “Campaign for the Twenty-First Century,” which ended in 2005.

“We believe our alumni and friends are excited about the opportunity to support the programs and needs that mean the most to them while taking the university to new heights,” he said.

UA System Board of Trustees chairman Reynie Rutledge of Searcy, chairman and CEO of First Security Bank, will chair the campaign steering committee through June 30, 2017.

Joining Rutledge on the campaign’s executive committee are Johnelle Hunt, Marilyn Bogle, Boyce Billingsley, Bob and Sandra Connor, Doug and Shelley McMillon and Bill Dillard II.