UF and the Levin College of Law both received record donations this past year.
The university as a whole was given $449 million in the 2016-17 fiscal year, from July 2016 to June 2017, through donations from almost 75,000 people. The law school received $4.5 million in 12 weeks this Summer.
The donations to UF have increased in recent years, said Joe Mandernach, a senior associate vice president and chief development officer of UF advancement. In the past 21 years, UF has grown from receiving $76 million in charitable donations to $449 million in the 2016-2017 fiscal year – a nearly 600 percent increase.
The record was set during UF’s Go Greater campaign, a fundraising program established in 2014 and is chaired by UF alumna and board of trustees member Anita Zucker.
Zucker said she attributes the record success to alumni connections and efforts to involve them in UF’s goal to become one of the highest ranking universities in the nation. Zucker said the money will go toward hiring 200 new professors, reducing the faculty to student ratio and increasing the number of student scholarships given.
“I think that is so exciting, to be able to help young people go to school,” she said.
Of the total raised, $16.3 million was donated to the Machen Florida Opportunity Scholars Program, which helps first generation students pay for their education.
David Nelms, chairman and CEO of Discover Financial Services, made a $5 million donation to the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering in December 2016, one of the highest donations from an individual that can be announced publically, Mandernach said.
Through the Culverhouse Challenge, a 12 week fundraising initiative, Levin College of Law also set fundraising records.
The challenge called on supporters of the Levin College of Law to donate $1.5 million in 12 weeks. If donors raised that amount, Hugh Culverhouse and UF Provost Joe Glover would both give matching donations. In total, the amount raised was $4.5 million.
The Levin College of Law is working toward being ranked as a top 10 public educational program. Law Dean Laura Rosenbury said the college is planning on using the funds to support their students with more scholarships.
“These scholarships will help us recruit the best students which will ultimately help us in our ranking, and will make every student’s law degree more valuable,” Rosenbury said.
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