This weekend thousands of Penn Staters will pour into town for a weekend of fun, festivities, fellowship and football—although this game is more celebration than competition.
Amid the events of the weekend Penn State officially kicks off the ‘For The Future’ Capital Campaign. The stated student-centered goal is to raise endowment and scholarship funds to help meet the needs of worthy students. The campaign has been underway for a few years, already raising half of what will be the stated goal this weekend.
With an annual budget of $3.7 billion, more than 20 campus locations, and a presence in every corner of the Commonwealth, Penn State is a leading driver of economic activity in the state. Despite that, Penn State’s state appropriation totals less than 10 percent of Penn State’s operating budget.
That low level of state support forces Penn State to seek operating revenues from other sources—most notably tuition and fees. Penn State is increasingly expensive with tuition hikes outpacing the rate of inflation. According to the university, the average Penn State student will leave here with debt of around $27,000.
There is a prayer I learned in Catholic elementary school that says:
‘God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.’
The amount of money that Penn State gets from the state government falls under the concept of having the serenity to accept the things we can not change. Budget realities, and state funding priorities make it very unlikely that Penn State will see a major funding boost in the future.
This capital campaign is about having the ‘The courage to change the things we can.’ It is designed to raise billions of dollars to help put the cost of attending one of the nation’s most expensive public universities back within reach for Penn State students.
Penn State hasn’t always received such generous support from alumni and friends. There was a time when it was assumed that the state would always take care of Penn State. But that attitude and perception changed dramatically.
In January of 1983 the call to arms was sounded by an unlikely person. Just weeks removed from coaching Penn State to a National Championship in football, Joe Paterno was invited to speak to the board of Trustees.
In that speech he challenged university leaders to aggressively raise funds and build endowments. Penn State’s endowment at the time was somewhere in the neighborhood of $20-30 million.
Over the years Penn State launched several capital campaigns. In the 1980s a campaign under the direction of President Bryce Jordan and Campaign Chair Bill Schreyer (then the CEO of Merrill Lynch) had a goal of $250 million—they raised $300 million. In the last capital campaign Penn State started with a goal of $1 billion, raised it to $1.2 billion and netted over $1.4 billion.
After two decades of hard work, Penn State’s endowment stands at over $1.2 billion at the conclusion of the 2009 fiscal year.
Now as a new challenge is put forth it is up to Penn State’ alumni and friends to once again show that ‘We Are Penn State.’
Being part of that ‘We Are’ means having the attitude and effort to accomplish the lofty goals set forth for this university. Being a part of the ‘We Are’ means recognizing a need and responding in some way.
‘We Are’ is a student standing at an intersection in Pittsburgh on a freezing cold Saturday to help can for THON—an event that has broken fundraising records every year during the recession.
‘We Are’ is an alumna or alumnus endowing scholarships so students can get the education they’ll need for a world where the competition may come from Berlin to Bangalore to Beijing.
‘We Are’ means realizing that any support at any level can help. In 2008-09 more than 77,000 alums helped Penn State raise one of the highest annual totals in the school’s history.
‘We Are’ means the ultimate understanding that the value of a Penn State degree fluctuates with the perception of what Penn State is now—not what it was when someone graduated. In a way Penn State philanthropy is a selfish act—it helps to raise the market value of the degree you hold from your Alma Mater.
This campaign helps raise Penn State’s market value by enabling the university to attract top caliber students by making money available to help them begin and complete their Penn State Education.
As the lines in the Alma Mater say ‘For The Future That We Wait, Raise The Song Raise the Song.’ This weekend is a reminder that for Penn State and the future that her students wait, it isn’t just about Raise The Song but also about Raise the Funds.
