BC sets out to "Light the World" with $1.5 billion capital campaign

Four hundred people of Boston College's past and present gathered Saturday night to look forward to the future, celebrating the inauguration of the 150th Anniversary Capital Campaign. Seeking to raise $1.5 billion, "Light the World" will support BC's most recent initiatives, including construction on Brighton Campus and the strengthening of academic excellence.

Although Saturday marked the official beginning of the campaign, which will run for approximately seven years, donations raised in the "quiet phase" reached $520 million - already surpassing the $440 million total of the previous campaign which concluded in 2003.

"The success thus far is a testament to alumni loyalty to BC and their endorsement of the goals that have been established for the campaign," said University Spokesman Jack Dunn.

While the Brighton construction plans have garnered the most attention, both locally and on campus, over one-third of the capital raised by the campaign will actually be spent on academic programs. The allotted $575 million will support the creation of 12 new academic centers, the strengthening of research programs, and the hiring of 100 new faculty members which will lower the student-faculty ratio from 13 to 1 to 11 to 1.

In addition, $300 million will go toward financial aid, solidifying BC's current "need blind" admissions program by which 100 percent of a student's demonstrated financial need is met. Current annual programs will receive $175 million, Jesuit Catholic student formation programs will get $125 million, and intramural and intercollegiate athletics will get $100 million.

The most noticeable - and the only controversial - aspects of the University's initiatives, the new campus construction projects, will receive $225 million. Plans for the construction, which include four new academic buildings, a student center, a new recreational complex, a fine arts center, and athletic facilities, have yet to be approved by the City of Boston and currently hinge on the acceptance of proposed residence halls. If the plans are approved, BC will be the first university in Boston to house 100 percent of its undergraduates, adding 1,280 available beds.

Despite the current economic hardships faced by many, the University has shown its resiliency in the face of adversity, bouncing back from near bankruptcy only 35 years ago. BC's leaders remain hopeful that its early success in the campaign so far will be indicative of what will come.

"Throughout its history, Boston College has always set high standards and has never steered away from challenges," said University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J. "Resulting from an extensive assessment and planning process, we established seven strategic directions for Boston College in our Strategic Plan that address our academic priorities and help respond to societal needs. This campaign will provide the resources to achieve those goals."

The new capital campaign has brought in several donations of over $10 million coming from single benefactors, and the largest gift in University history from an anonymous donor totaling $50 million.

Beyond the capital it plans to raise, BC has also prioritized doubling the number of alumni who significantly volunteer with the University, increasing the number of undergraduate donors from 22,500 to 40,000, and securing 5,000 estate commitments.

Constant throughout the day's festivities was a sense of enthusiasm and loyalty to enhance the BC experience for those to come, and recognition of those whose leadership made it possible in the past. Eleven distinguished University leaders and former chairmen of the Board of Trustees were honored with the Andrew Carney Medal for Distinguished Lay Leadership at a luncheon in McElroy Commons. The award recognizes the importance of partnership between laity and clergy in the merging scholarship, vision, and tradition.

"As a university that strives for intellectual greatness and is imbued with the distinctive values of Jesuit, Catholic education, Boston College is committed to the formation of men and women who will be a leaven for good in the world, a light to the nations," Leahy said. "'Light the World' expresses Boston College's mission and its recognition of the world's need for a great university that joins faith and reason, that pursues knowledge and justice, and that strives to serve society."