Vision for the next century

By Jocelyn Wright     11/6/08 6:00pm

Rice's Centennial Campaign, which aims to raise $1 billion for the university by Rice's 100th anniversary in 2012, will be announced today at an "All-Rice" picnic for students, faculty and staff that includes a performance by indie rock band The National. The campaign's $1 billion goal is double that of Rice's last campaign, "Rice: the Next Century," which ended in 2004. President David Leebron said the $1 billion goal was determined by thinking about what was possible and then going beyond that figure. Since Rice has already raised $500 million for the campaign, Leebron said the gamble had paid off.

"It was a stretch to go with the goal of a billion dollars," Leebron said. "Announcing with 50 percent is about as good a position as people are in after three years."

Susanne Glasscock (Jones '82), who serves on the Board of Trustees, said the campaign has been extremely successful so far.

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"The phrase that we have keyed on to for the campaign is 'No upper limit,'" Glasscock said. "This of course goes back to [the first president of Rice] Edgar Odell Lovett and that was the challenge he put forth in 1912. We've come a long way in 100 years, and we want to go a long way in the next 100 years."

All donations made to the university between mid-2005, when the campaign began its quiet, unannounced phase, and 2012 are included in the results.

The Centennial Campaign is the third campaign in Rice's history. Money raised during the campaign will fund the goals of the Vision for the Second Century, Leebron said. Glasscock said the campaign aims to raise $400 million for undergraduate and graduate education, $310 million for research and $290 million for collaborations with leading institutions in Houston. Glasscock said much of this fundraising would benefit undergraduates.

"There is always the emphasis on the undergraduate," she said. "The new rec center, the leadership development, the new business minor and of course scholarships, all these are things that look to the undergraduate experience."

Since the planning for the campaign began in mid-2005, Glasscock said the recent U.S. financial crisis did not affect Rice's decision to announce the campaign for Homecoming weekend.

"The financial turmoil, I mean we all feel like it's been forever, but it's really been the last 90 days," Glasscock said. "This is a long-term look."

Leebron acknowledged the financial crisis but said he was optimistic about the Centennial Campaign reaching its goal.

"We know that the next couple of years will be challenging depending on how quickly the economy recovers," Leebron said. "I think right now we feel that things in Houston are still in pretty good shape."

Glasscock said the $1 billion goal was ambitious but doable.

"Rice is not as big of a lot of places," she said. "Rice has a history of being small, but we have a history of doing big things."

The funds raised so far include $51.6 million in endowed scholarships, a number Leebron said he would like to see doubled by the end of the campaign.

Recent gifts include $22.5 million from the Benificus Foundation, alumni John (Lovett '73) and Ann Doerr's (Jones '75) private foundation and $12.4 million from the estate of alumni Hugh (Baker '41) and Annette Gragg (Baker '47) for scholarships and two endowed chairs, $5 million from alumni Clint (Wiess '79) and Nancy Carlson (Baker '80) for the School of Humanities and the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management, as well as over $30 million each from alumni Burt (Baker '56) and Deedee McMurtry (Brown '56) and Charles ('47) and Anne Duncan to fund two new residential colleges.

The campaign has also raised money for the appointment of 14 faculty chairs, doctoral programs in art history and sociology and the renovation of the Tudor Fieldhouse, formerly Autry Court.

Glasscock said the Office of Development has spent the past two years going to alumni, foundations and organizations in Houston and explaining the Vision for the Second Century.

Robert Tudor (Hanszen '82) said the reactions from the donors they had approached were positive.

"I think there's a fundamental understanding among people in Houston and Texas that having a very strong world-class university in Houston is important to the future of Houston," Tudor said. "Rice is very well-positioned to do that."

Leebron said he hoped donations would finance some new projects, such as a new social sciences building, an opera house for the Shepherd School of Music and an art center on campus. Since there is already considerable construction on campus, however, Leebron said these projects were dependent on further funding.

As the campaign goes into its next phase, Glasscock said there will be two events, one in San Francisco and one in New York City, to announce the campaign to alumni and potential donors across the country. She said the Office of Development is in the process of planning fund raising events for the coming year.

Tudor said he hoped students would embrace the campaign.

"There's no more inspirational thing for potential donors than to be around Rice students and really see Rice students in action," he said.

"I mean, what we have to remember is these dollars could go to a ton of very, very worthy causes, and we're trying to convince them that we're the most worthy of the worthy.

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