Seattle University opens $160 million fundraising campaign

Seattle University has boosted its goal to $160 million in a fundraising campaign, the largest in history for the state's largest private university, President Stephen V. Sundborg said Thursday.

Sundborg said $24 million, within $1.5 million of triggering a $10 million matching gift from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, already has been donated toward the $55 million transformation of the 42-year-old Lemieux Library into the Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons. Completion is set for the fall of 2010.

"The new library is a centerpiece in the transformation of Seattle University," Sundborg said in a news release.

Construction will begin a year early on the library project, which will add 40,000 square feet to the 80,000-square-foot library and install state-of-the-art computer and communications technology, he added

"This project will provide students and faculty with a gathering place and new digital tools for learning and sharing ideas with audiences here or anywhere in the world," said Anne Farrell, campaign co-chair and president emerita of the Seattle Foundation.

More than 500 alumni and supporters of the Jesuit school gathered for the announcement of the start of the public phase of a fundraising campaign that began in 2003. Sundborg said the campaign had raised more than $137 million in 46,000 gifts.

The overall goal was increased by $10 million to $160 million by July 1, 2009, because of strong support during the initial phase of the campaign, according to the news release.

Other goals of the campaign include:

-$37 million for undergraduate and graduate scholarships.

-$30.4 million to endow faculty positions, retain leading faculty and otherwise improve academic programs.

-$63.5 million for building improvements, including the library overhaul and construction of a new fitness center.

-$15.5 million for faculty and staff to learn more about Jesuit traditions through travel or study.