To New Heights

“We cannot know what new discoveries lie ahead. But we do know that bringing together powerful and creative minds to teach, learn, and pursue ideas will take the University to new heights and bring unforeseeable benefits to the nation and the world.”

—President Lee C. Bollinger, Columbia Campaign Launch, September 2006.

Campaign donors invest in an enterprising vision for Columbia’s future and Columbia’s impact on the future. Their gifts build Columbia’s capacity to lead—to bring the very best thinking to bear on the issues of the day, attract student and faculty talent, foster creativity, discover what we don’t know, apply what we do know, and educate new generations of leaders in every field and profession.

Meeting the Campaign’s ambitious goal—$4 billion by December 2011—requires the efforts of the entire Columbia community—faculty, staff, students, parents, Trustees, and alumni, as well as other individuals and institutions who believe in Columbia and what it can do for the world. At the time of the Campaign’s public launch in September 2006, donors had already given or pledged over $1.6 billion or 40 percent of the overall goal. But we have only begun this unprecedented University-wide effort. It encompasses all schools and programs of the University, many of which are launching their own campaigns and initiatives in the months and years ahead.

So far, gifts range from $100 annual fund donations to an historic $400 million gift from John Kluge ’37CC for scholarships and fellowships across the University. In this effort every gift counts. Campaign gifts help transform the education of Columbia’s undergraduates, and of doctors, lawyers, journalists, engineers, novelists, architects, and social workers. They increase the pool of student and faculty talent. They infuse new energy into programs for research, the arts, and problem-solving. They strengthen academic disciplines and build new bridges between them across our campuses. They reshape the campuses themselves. Overall, they secure the long-term stability of a place that many alumni hold dear.

Read President Bollinger's Five-Year Report or a special Campaign insert to Columbia magazine.

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