Marquette University‘s Time to Rise campaign has raised $801.7 million, the university announced Thursday.
The campaign, which spanned eight years as the largest comprehensive campaign in Marquette University’s history, surpassed its original goal of $750 million. More than 71,000 people donated, and the final year of the campaign saw “the most alumni gifts ever in a single fiscal year,” according to the university’s news release.
There were 149 donors who contributed at least $1 million, according to the news release.
Expanding opportunities for students, supporting teacher-scholars, fostering innovation at the university and transforming the campus environment were the four focuses of the campaign, according to the news release.
“Time to Rise began as a rightfully bold plan, turned into a philanthropic movement and has helped to create a sustainable culture of giving at Marquette,” said Tim McMahon, vice president for university advancement, in the news release. “Together, benefactors have opened doors for our students, supported our world-class faculty, bolstered academic and athletics programs alike, and transformed our campus.”
The Time to Rise Campaign helped to create 436 new scholarships due to the $313 million in scholarship contributions, according to the news release.
The campaign raised $185 million for Marquette’s teacher-scholars. This helped to create 118 “faculty-focused funds, which supported research, graduate assistants, “and drove innovation in areas such as real estate, literacy, psychology, restorative justice, neuro recovery, biomedical engineering, leadership development and others,” according to the news release.
In January, Michael Lovell, the university’s former president who passed away in June, had challenged the Marquette community to “put an eight in front of the final number,” according to the news release.
“This is yet another remarkable tribute to Dr. Lovell’s leadership and his ability to boldly inspire our Marquette community around the world,” acting president Kimo Ah Yun said in the news release. “We are incredibly grateful to our alumni, parents and friends for their passionate support to drive our Catholic, Jesuit mission forward, and for fulfilling our promise to be the difference.”
The university will be opening three new facilities on campus this upcoming school year: the remodeled nursing school building, the Lemonis School for Student Success and the Wellness + Helfaer Recreation Center.
“As we look ahead, we will continue to drive progress knowing that we’ve collectively built on our strong foundation and helped Marquette rise in profound ways,” Ah Yun said in the news release.