Ualbany campaign raises $162M

The University at Albany said it has concluded its most successful fundraising campaign in the school’s 176-year history. Ualbany raised $162 million from more than 34,000 alumni and other supporters. That was $12 million more than the campaign’s goal.

The effort, This is Our Time: The Campaign for Ualbany, launched its public phase in October 2018 and concluded last month. The money will pay for 175 new endowed student scholarships, the university’s first endowed internship called the Massry Community Service Fellows, naming gifts to new academic and athletic facilities, and benefiting the university’s student emergency fund, which has financially supported students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“At a time when our students’ needs have never been greater, the Great Dane family has provided a powerful statement of confidence in their future,” Havidán Rodríguez, the university’s president, said in a statement. “Donors to the campaign already are having a profound impact on our students’ lives. That impact will be felt for generations to come.”

The campaign also attracted gifts to strengthen diversity and inclusion across the campus, support research on minority health disparities— a problem highlighted by the pandemic— and create an innovative School of Education program aimed at diversifying the teacher pipeline, the university said.

The fundraising success comes as Ualbany is grappling with a widening budget gap projected to grow to nearly $59 million.