Donors essential to school funds

EMU has long depended on the monetary gifts of numerous donors. Their contributions can be seen throughout the campus and in the lives of current students and alumni.

The 2002-2003 fiscal year's donations to the University Fund totaled a record high of more than $1.36 million. A significant portion of donations come from alumni; last year, more than 2,800 households made donations to EMU, contributing a total of approximately $628,000. Nearly 40 alumni who donated at least $5,000 received the distinction of "President's Partners." Another 280 households donated at the "Associates in Discipleship" level, giving between $1,000 and $4,999.

While physical evidence of donors gifts is prominently displayed in the form of buildings and other structures on campus, current and past students may have unknowingly been direct beneficiaries of the contributions. Many scholarships are provided by the generosity of friends of EMU. University sports, drama, and music programs, as well as campus speakers, are often funded by donations. The University Fund also assists in the expenses of technical equipment, faculty, books, and student field trips.

Donors have the option of specifying how they want their gifts to be used. In the 2003 business year alone, nearly $4.3 million in "restricted gifts" were donated. The Lilly Endowment received nearly half of the restricted funds. Other major recipients of specified monetary gifts were the campus radio station (WEMC), the Conflict Transformation Program, and the University Commons renovation fund.

Two individual donors that have greatly impacted the EMU campus are Lewis and Ethel Strite, the namesakes of the Strite auditorium, which is located on the first floor of the Campus Center. Evidence of their generosity can be admired in many of the buildings at EMU, including the Campus Center, University Commons, and the seminary building, as well as renovations in Northlawn. In their most recent gesture to the EMU community, the Strites sold their house to the school to be used as the residence of the university president.

Church congregations contribute greatly to both the university and individual students through direct contributions and the matching grant program. Direct contributions, which include restricted gifts and donations to the University Fund, total over $150,000 per year. The total donations through the matching grant program yield even more funds than direct contributions from churches. EMU's matching grant program assists individual students who are given scholarships or grants from their congregations, matching up to $1,000, and matching 25% of any amount above that.

Much of what this institution offers to prospective, current, and past students can be attributed to the generosity of the thousands of people who give to the university. Last year the amount of money donated to the Fund set a record for the highest contribution total in EMU's history. For this fiscal year, which ends on June 30, 2004, the goal for donations is $1.5 million.