Capital campaign part of Manchester’s regional goals
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The president of Manchester University says the $45 million capital campaign launched over the weekend comes at exactly the right time. The university announced the public phase of the “Manchester Bold: The Future is Ours” campaign, which will provide funding for facility upgrades, a new wellness and sport performance center, and other initiatives.
“We’ve been delighted with the enthusiasm of donors to support the projects that we’re working on. So, we have a lot of confidence going into the final phase,” said Dave McFadden, who announced the campaign during the university’s Homecoming on Saturday.
McFadden discussed the campaign in an interview with Inside INdiana Business.
“This is a time of change in higher education, challenge in higher education, and we thought it is exactly the right time to claim a future that is attainable and to raise funds to help us get there,” McFadden said.
The quiet phase of the campaign has been ongoing for several years. To date, the university has raised nearly $37 million, and McFadden says he is grateful for the support from donors.
“The pandemic was a time when fundraising was uncertain; people didn’t know if we would continue to see the kind of support that we have had in previous years,” he said. “In fact, we found that support for our programs increased.”
The funding from the campaign is being split into six categories: the New Initiatives Fund ($6.5 million); renovations to Ortho Winger Hall ($5 million); the new Wellness and Sport Performance Center ($6 million); the Manchester Fund ($11 million); the Endowment Fund ($8 million); and upgrades to Funderburg Library ($5.5 million).
McFadden says the New Initiatives funding will be used to launch new academic and extracurricular programs. The fund has previously been used to launch new nursing programs and the Spartan Pride marching band.
He adds the new Wellness and Sport Performance Center will be a place where the university’s academic programs and athletics intersect.
“We have a very strong major in exercise science and fitness. We have an emerging nutrition major, and we have strong Division III athletic programs. In that space, we’ll be able to work with students who are studying in those academic areas and working with their peers who are student-athletes to improve their performance, their nutrition, their well-being.”
McFadden says the campaign will help Manchester achieve its vision for becoming a regional university with new programs, such as a master’s program in nutrigenomics and a doctor of physical therapy program.
“All of the work that we’re doing in this campaign is intended to give us momentum as we move from being a traditional undergraduate institution in a town of 6,000 to being a regional university that serves directly the needs of our local communities, the region and the world more generally.”
You can learn more about the capital campaign by clicking here.