Great Expectations: “Forever LSU” Campaign Making Great Progress

February 13, 2007

BATON ROUGE –LSU’s most ambitious fundraising campaign to date, “Forever LSU,” is moving full steam ahead. The university has already raised more than one-third of its $750 million goal, and the campaign does not end until 2010.

“ We are very pleased that LSU’s alumni and supporters have stepped up to make this happen,” said Michael Ruffner, vice chancellor for communication and university relations at LSU. “We are incredibly grateful to everyone who has contributed thus far, and we are calling on those who have not yet participated to help us keep steadily working toward our goal.”

As of Dec. 31, 2006, the campaign has raised a total of $283 million. More than $33 million of that was raised in six months, from the campaign’s public launch in June 2006 through December 2006. The remainder was raised during the campaign’s silent phase, which began in 2001.

Private funds raised by the “Forever LSU” campaign will be used to expand the university’s academic and research capabilities and help LSU compete with the top flagship universities around the country. LSU’s strategic plan to accomplish this, called the National Flagship Agenda, calls for increasing student, faculty and university-wide support and improving campus infrastructure.

The “Forever LSU” campaign combines the efforts of the university’s three fundraising bodies – the LSU Alumni Association, the LSU Foundation and Tiger Athletic Foundation.

“ It is gratifying to see the way our three fund-raising arms have come together to meet this ambitious challenge,” Ruffner said. “It is working quite well, and we hope to have additional success stories to tell in the weeks and months ahead.”