The University of Missouri-Kansas City has exceeded a $250 million fundraising goal, a year early.
“Ladies and gentleman, we are already there,” Chancellor Leo Morton announced Thursday. “The campaign for UMKC has exceeded its goal and has done so a full year of schedule.”
But Morton added the university wouldn’t be calling it quits.
“Just because the goal has been reached, the campaign is not over,” Morton said. “We’re not done yet.”
Chief among Morton’s goals for the last year of the capital campaign is an additional $16 million of private sector support needed to launch the downtown arts campus.
UMKC also hopes to raise additional funds for the School of Computing and Engineering, faculty chair endowments and student scholarships, campaign chair Tom Hyde announced.
“We know that there are many qualified, motivated students who are succeeding here who drop out each year because they simply cannot bear the cost of the education,” Hyde said.
There have been 300,000 individual gifts to the capital campaign, including 30 gifts of more than $1 million.
Morton said the most important example of UMKC donors’ generosity was the Bloch Executive Hall.
“It not only accommodates the growth in the Bloch School, but quite frankly, it’s an absolute architectural marvel,” Morton said. “So when you see Henry, tell him thank you.”
Elle Moxley is a reporter for KCUR. You can reach her on Twitter @ellemoxley.
