Vol. 38, No. 18

3-4-2004
By: Randy Gammage

Campus Campaign kicks off 19th year

Organizers expect drive to pass $100 million mark this year

Orange barrels, yellow construction tape and flashing yellow lights outlined a path through the corridor of the Fawcett Center leading to the banquet rooms, where the annual Campus Campaign kickoff was held Feb. 17.
Campus Campaign is Ohio State’s annual fundraising drive.
Once inside the banquet rooms, visitors were greeted by campaign volunteers wearing hardhats, and a festive atmosphere with refreshments, music, information booths and plenty of socializing.
With signs on the walls and in the halls stating “Campus Campaign Under Construction,” the kickoff event embraced the construction that the campus is currently veiled in, and called for faculty and staff to pitch in to help build programs, scholarships and research for the future of Ohio State.
Addressing the kickoff crowd, President Karen Holbrook said the building for the future message “reflects what we do each day here at Ohio State.”
She said the Campus Campaign is one of the most impressive examples of the Buckeye commitment to excellence.
“This is just a fabulous event,” Holbrook said. “I’ve worked on five different campuses across the country and I have never seen any type of campaign like this. I am overwhelmed by the support and dedication of all those involved.”
She praised the university’s faculty and staff for helping to raise more than $98 million since the campaign’s inception in 1985.
Holbrook was introduced by this year’s campaign co-chairs: Golden Jackson, associate professor of consumer and textile sciences, and Ron Shaull, director of print and Web content at the Ohio State Medical Center. Jackson and Shaull also served as last year’s co-chairs. The program was followed by a spirited performance by 17 members of the OSU College of the Arts Percussion Ensemble.
“A milestone is anticipated during this year’s campaign,” said Linda Johnson, associate director of annual giving in the Office of University Development. “Faculty and staff giving should surpass the $100 million mark in 2004.”
The campaign raised more than $5 million in 2003.
The Campus Campaign has a special focus this year — the William Oxley Thompson Library Renovation fund (#302895), Johnson said. The $100 million renovation and restoration of the Main Library is a major priority of Ohio State, and the only building project named in the university’s Academic Plan.
It is the first time that a featured fund has been added to the gift card since the campaign began, when the Campus Campaign Council created three separate funds that are supported solely through the Campus Campaign and listed each year on the pledge card. They are: the Family Scholarship Fund, the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Fund and the Staff Career Development Fund.
With more than 9,000 funds at Ohio State supported by Campus Campaign donations, the impact is being felt across campus and beyond.
William McCleery, development officer with 4-H youth development, can testify to the power of the Campus Campaign as he leads the fundraising efforts for a $12 million Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center to be built on the Ohio State campus off Fred Taylor Drive. He said OSU Extension employees, located in all 88 counties, are loyal supporters of Campus Campaign.
“We’ve raised more than $600,000 over the past three years from Extension employees — both current and retired — and Campus Campaign payroll deduction has been a significant portion of that,” McCleery said.
More than $10 million has been raised to date for the facility, which will showcase the role 4-H has as Ohio State’s primary youth outreach organization, McCleery said.
In Ohio, 4-H is part of OSU Extension under the umbrella of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, and provides 4-H members with the latest research-based information, distributed through a network of county OSU Extension faculty and 4-H volunteers.
Money received through the Campus Campaign also helps support a University Medical Center Patient and Family Emergency Fund. The fund can provide patients and their families with an emergency supply of medication, short-term lodging and assistance with parking costs, Shaull said.
Gifts through the Campus Campaign may be designated to any fund. A sampling of broad-appeal funds can be viewed on the Web at www.giveto.osu.edu (click on Campus Campaign).
The Campus Campaign is a year-round effort that intensifies each spring when more than 1,000 volunteers work together to coordinate individual college and departmental campaigns. Gift cards are distributed to all faculty and staff by volunteers. Contributions can be made by check or payroll deduction, or credit card on the gift cards. Credit card gifts also may be made securely online at www.giveto.osu.edu. Payroll deduction is not yet available online, Johnson said.

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