Campaign a Success

What does "Georgetown forever" mean to you? If you are an alumna/us, it may be the familiar line from the university's alma mater, ". . . may Georgetown live forever." But to many of us, over the last several years it has been the driving message behind the university's Third Century Campaign that ended on June 30.

Details from a fundraising letter by Georgetown University founder John Carroll, referencing the "Proposals for establishing an Academy . . ."

In the next few months, you will be reading a good deal in various university publications about the impact of the Third Century Campaign on Georgetown's intellectual and student life. There will be facts and figures detailing the positive results that these years of concentrated fundraising have had on every part of the university. Here is just a snapshot of the difference that the generosity of so many has made to the Georgetown University Library.

Every campaign has a "case statement," a formal document arguing the "case" for support and why outside funds are needed. The library's case, published in 1998, described $30 million-worth of needs: to expand information technology, develop library collections (general and special), preserve the book collection, endow library leadership and provide unrestricted support. All these areas, with the exception of endowed library positions, have benefited richly from the hearty response of alumni, parents, and friends to the Library's call for their "time, talent, and treasure."

How are we different in 2003 from when we started in 1995? Some differences are felt, others seen. The University's students and faculty enjoy greater depth in subject area resources both in print and digital formats; richer primary source material at hand in Special Collections for original research and the creation and exploration of new ideas; a coffee room for both study breaks and community-building; additional exhibit areas; wireless technology throughout the building; and a New Media Center with a state-of-the-art classroom dedicated to instruction in information technology, a multimedia room, and video/audio editing suites.

When the counting is finished later this summer, the numbers will show that alumni, parents, and friends have chosen to invest an estimated $27 million in the heart of the University's academic enterprise over the course of the Third Century Campaign. With this level of trust and commitment, our supporters have demonstrated their belief in one of this Campaign's most important themes-the scholarship that sustains Georgetown, forever. And we are forever grateful.