U. kicks off $1.75 billion campaign

The University launches its $1.75 billion capital campaign today, kicking off five years of concentrated fundraising led by President Tilghman and a committee of alumni.

Tilghman staged a press conference in Maclean House yesterday to officially announce the campaign. During the "quiet phase" of the campaign, which began in July 2005, the University raised $610 million, including the $101 million donation for the arts that Peter Lewis '55 gave in January 2006.

"The theme of this campaign is encapsulated in a single word — 'aspire,' " Tilghman said. "Princeton has always aspired to be better than it is."

University trustees Robert Murley '72 and Nancy Peretsman '76 are co-chairing the campaign. The Annual Giving component of the campaign will be directed by Rajiv Vinnakota '93 for its first two years.

The campaign will draw upon the close ties that alumni have to the University.

"Princeton is an elephant among mice in terms of alumni loyalty," Murley said, adding that there "is not a doubt in my mind that we will be extremely successful."

The co-chairs stressed the need to preserve the University's institutional knowledge through continued financial support. Citing the fact that "Princeton has lasted longer than most governments," Peretsman said the University embodies the "civilized way to pass information on from one generation to another."

The table of needs released by the University breaks fundraising goals into six categories: arts, engineering, neuroscience, globalism, Annual Giving and general spending.

A total of $325 million is allotted to "Exploration in the Arts," which includes funding for the University Art Museum, Princeton Atelier and the Lewis Center for the Arts. Including Lewis' 2006 donation, the University aims to raise $325 million for the arts.

"Our mission is to bring the creation of works of arts into the core of the Princeton undergraduate experience," Tilghman said, adding that the additional funds will assure that the "full vision for the center is realized."

The table of needs also includes "Engineering for a Sustainable Society," which will receive $325 million as well. Tilghman underscored the importance of "[remedying] the damage caused by burning of fossil fuels [by educating] scientists, engineers and policy makers."

"New Frontiers in Neuroscience," an initiative that includes the two-year-old Princeton Neuroscience Institute, will receive $300 million.

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"Citizenship and the World" provides funding for the Office of International Programs, the Center for African American Studies, Near Eastern studies, the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies and the Wilson School. Those programs are slated to receive $300 million.

The University, Tilghman said, must "make students ready to live in a global community." Part of the University's international initiative is to increase undergraduate and graduate participation in academic study, internships and research trips during their time at the University.

The new campaign hopes to raise $250 million from Annual Giving, which provides unrestricted funding that can be used at the University's discretion.

"We cherish those five-dollar gifts," Tilghman said, explaining that what matters most for Annual Giving is participation by alumni.

One focus of the campaign is "[strengthening] aspects of the University that we've been historically recognized for," Tilghman said, including grant-based financial aid, precepts and professorships, as well as student life offerings. These elements are included under the "Princeton Experience" section, which has a target of $250 million.

The most recent capital campaign was concluded in 2000 and raised $1.14 billion, surpassing its initial goal of $750 million as well as a revised goal of $900 million.

There is "no question that the capital campaign of the 1990s hit the sweet spot," Murley said, in response to concern that current economic conditions will make it difficult to meet the new campaign's target of $1.75 billion.

But, "we have a history of overachievement at Princeton and we aspire to do just that," he added.

The goal for the campaign will most likely increase, as it was set to reflect "careful analysis based on what [our] needs are in 2007," Tilghman said, adding that once the University identifies other needs for funding, "my expectation is that we will find a way to increase a table of needs."

The new campaign will also rely more heavily on participation by alumnae. As more gender-balanced classes graduate, the alumni gender ratio will gradually become half women, half men.

"The last campaign didn't really capture women at the full peak of their career," Peretsman said, adding that participation by alumnae in Annual Giving campaigns has been very good.

"We're going to have a lot of fun and raise a lot of money," she added.