With appropriate fanfare on a bitterly cold night at the end of January, Centre trustee Randy Kell ’69 stepped to the microphone at the Centre Associates dinner in Louisville and officially launched the future of Centre College. Hundreds gathered at Churchill Downs for the kickoff of the largest fundraising effort in the College’s 185-year history. With a nod to the location, President John A. Roush issued a “call to the post” for the $120-million Campaign for A More Perfect Centre and challenged everyone in the room to run a good race.

This new comprehensive campaign will help fund student scholarships, faculty support, new and expanded programs, upgraded technology, new and renovated buildings, and a significant increase in the size of the College’s endowment. (See chart on the next page for specifics.)

Talk of debates and candidates has become pretty commonplace on Centre’s campus lately. But this campaign isn’t about politics; it’s about raising enough money over the next four years—in current and deferred gifts—to let the College provide an even more powerful educational experience to its students.

Like advertising campaigns and political campaigns, comprehensive fundraising campaigns have their own jargon. The period leading up to the “public phase” announcement is sometimes called “the silent but not secret phase” of the campaign. Silent does not mean inactive, however. During Centre’s “leadership gift” period more than $70 million was committed to the effort.

Like all good campaigns, Centre has a “case statement,” a brochure that makes the case for the needs and priorities of the campaign. In fact, the College has a variety of communication pieces with details about the initiative and the personal stories of faculty, staff, students, and alumni that illustrate the importance of participating in the campaign. Centre alumni and friends will have the opportunity to learn even more at “regional campaign events,” receptions and dinners to be held all over the country.

The final key word for this campaign is “comprehensive” since it will touch virtually every area of the campus. The Capital Improvement Fund and the new College Centre get lots of attention. But the Campaign for A More Perfect Centre is about much more than just buildings, microscopes, and exercise equipment. Opportunities range from aiding the diversity efforts on campus to bringing new lecturers to campus. Whatever area of interest a donor has, the campaign offers a chance to get involved.

Centre, like most colleges and universities, relies heavily on what is called “annual giving.” Centre counts on these gifts that come during phonathon and many other ways each year to fund everything from scholarships to daily operations. But a campaign is a more focused effort that takes place parallel with annual giving. That’s why phonathon and other annual giving projects will continue during the campaign.

Some may be thinking, didn’t Centre just have a campaign? This is the fifth, and largest, comprehensive campaign in the last 50 years. (Previously, Centre staged several successful, but much smaller campaign efforts.) Every campaign has done better than its predecessor. It’s easy to see how past success raises future expectation when it comes to campaigns at Centre.

And what about the title of the campaign? As Clarence Wyatt ’78 says in the campaign video, “How can something be more perfect? According to classical philosophy, a thing becomes more perfect when it is better able to pursue its mission, more suited to its purpose.”

The money raised in this campaign will move Centre even closer to this ideal.

Finally, like all good campaigns, this one will succeed with the help of an army of people. Randy Kell chairs the campaign, with other members of the board of trustees providing leadership. The board’s Development and Public Affairs Committee, chaired by Bob Brockman ’63, serves as the steering committee for the campaign.

Several years of focused work has already taken place. By the time the campaign is finished, countless alumni and friends will have served on regional campaign committees, arranged events, made calls on classmates and friends, and provided the heart and soul of this effort.

So now the race has begun. Today’s Centre students and the ones to come in the future are looking to those who came before them to run strong and put the College in the winner’s circle at the end of the campaign.

After all, what could be more perfect?

Brian Miller ’81 is sorry he lampooned Centre’s Fund for the Future campaign in 1980 as the editor of the Cento’s April Fool’s Day issue. In 2003 he was named Centre’s director of campaign giving.

Click for information on Campaign Goal

Centrepiece
Centre College
600 West Walnut St.
Danville, KY 40422

Phone: (859) 238-5717
Fax: (859) 238-5723
E-mail: alumnews@centre.edu
or johnsond@centre.edu