The Leading Change Campaign

USD’s most recent fundraising campaign raised a total of $317 million

Glenn McDonell / Asst. News Editor / The USD Vista

The most ambitious fundraising campaign in USD’s history was successfully concluded last month, a full $17 millon ahead of its original goal.  “Leading Change – The Campaign for USD,” managed to raise $317 million over the course of the past eight years, $60 million of which is dedicated to campus-wide infrastructure improvements. 

According to Rick Virgin, the Vice President of University Advancement, one of the main goals of the campaign was to increase the amount of scholarship money available for students.

“With 70 percent of USD students receiving some form of financial support in order to attend USD, scholarships were one of our highest priorities and were at the heart of our campaign goals,” Virgin said.  “An additional 233 new scholarship funds were established during the campaign, virtually doubling the number of named scholarships at USD.”

While the final figures were released in an infographic breakdown as part of the Fall 2018 issue of USD Magazine, some students are unclear as to how the university procures and invests the millions it receives from trustees and alumni donors.  

The magazine breakdown, however, does not indicate how a USD education will become more affordable for students.

Andrew Allen, Ph.D., and the Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness, suggested that the administration will be using the funding to improve the school’s affordability in a range of other ways.  

“We’re constantly focusing on how to make things better for students, and in many cases that means making both the big and the little things more affordable,” Allen said.  “We know it’s difficult when students have debt to pay off when they graduate, or when they have to work a job off campus. That’s why we’re also looking to expand our on-campus job opportunities.” 

According to Allen, the university’s endowment, which is the amount of annual income pledged on an ongoing basis by major donors, has the greatest potential to help reduce these costs.  

“With a healthy endowment, it will be possible to cut down on some of those operational expenses,” Allen said.  “We now have an endowment of $500 million, most of which did not exist even one year ago.” 

The numbers alone demonstrate that the administration’s efforts to procure increased funding have reached unprecedented levels of success and have guaranteed capital improvements and greater availability of funding for years to come. 

Sophomore Justin Daus does not feel like he has been informed about how the university is allocating the money that is being raised.  

“Personally, I am unaware of the statistics in regard to USD’s use of available funds,” Daus said. “I hope that more funds are allocated to different pillars of student life in order to aid in student successes in the different facets of their lives.”  

For Daus, however, the university’s allotment of money in the past makes it somewhat difficult for him to celebrate the size of these new figures. 

“Many of the programs taking place thanks to USD’s funding appear to be there simply to appease the school’s overall impression in the eyes of students and donors, and do not seem necessary considering the price tag many students may be enduring in order to attend school here,” Daus said.   “For example, while I do think bringing camels to school on a Wednesday is rad and hilarious, something about that does not feel like it is using the funds productively for the lasting betterment of both students and faculty.” 

Daus expresses that these uses of funds make him question whether he would contribute to a fundraising campaign in the future. 

 “Currently, I do not think I would consider giving to USD in 10 years because I think it would be wasted,” Daus said. 

Senior mechanical engineering major Erin Kendrick also believes that transparency in terms of how the money is going to be used is important for her evaluation of the success of big fundraising efforts.  

“The big thing I want to know is how is all this new money going to benefit students,” Kendrick said.  “I think one of the problems is that students don’t really know where to look or who to ask to find out about how the school uses all the funding it receives.” 

While it is not clear how funds will actually be used, administrators have promised an increase in financial aid and student scholarships, and other direct benefits for students.  

Senior economics major Emmalyn Spruce thinks that using funding to cut down on the small costs would help improve overall student satisfaction.  

“I would love to see funding for the little things that students feel they are being nickeled and dimed for, things like printing and laundry,” Spruce said.  “Those little expenses make a big difference for students with scholarships and I think cause some resentment among students.” 

For Spruce, her decision to give back to the school would depend on where the funds were allocated.  

“There are a number of programs with significant funding that I see as irrelevant to the school’s mission,” Spruce said.  “If I were to give to USD, I would have to be certain that the money is being used to fund scholarships.” 

University administrators have said that the unprecedented success of the campaign will result directly in a better experience for current students, and increased opportunities for prospective students who cannot afford the cost of a USD education.  

Whether or not these promises materialize in ways which students can recognize and understand remains to be seen.