Campaign ‘major economic revitalization’ for VCU

Approximately $216 million has been collected toward the $330.5 million Capital Campaign, which VCU launched in April 2000 after the Partners for Progress campaign ended.

The campaign is a “major economic revitalization” for both the Monroe Park and Medical campuses, said Peter Wyeth, vice president for university advancement.

It was initiated to “fight the war on cancer, relieve the national nursing shortage, provide greater access to the university through scholarships, attract bright and ambitious students and faculty, and enhance the overall quality of life,” Wyeth said.

VCU President Eugene P. Trani opened the Capital Campaign to the public in April with a reception at the Jefferson Hotel.

Wyeth, who has been with Advancement Services for 12 years, said the Campaign has received phenomenal private support since it opened to the public.

“What you’ve got to do is present a big vision and you’ll receive a big gift,” he said. “You’ve got to build the image.”

The “big vision,” Wyeth said, is the School of Engineering’s hopes to be ranked in the top 25 universities in the nation by 2029. “This means more research money, higher quality and more space,” Wyeth said.

The Rice Center, which is situated on 340 acres between the Berkeley and Shirley plantations, will also receive money from the campaign. A wet-lab research center and an environmental research pier, which extends into the river, will be built with money from the campaign.

VCU alumni Tom and Vickie Snead made headlines in April when they pledged $1 million to the campaign. Donors like the Snead’s get to choose which of the 19 campaign the money will go toward.

Another major facet of the campaign are the professorships. Professorships are endowments of money, in addition to the professor’s salary, to an outstanding professor for research or supplies.

“It helps us to recruit big time professors,” said Wyeth. “Once you have outstanding faculty, you see it in the quality of teaching.”

Wyeth said the campaign is not only a physical improvement to VCU’s MCV and Monroe Park campuses, but an effort to enhance VCU’s academic reputation as well.

“You break into this with good facilities and professorships … that’s how you attract the students,” he said. “You need the lights to attract the moths.”

In the next five years, Wyeth sees students entering a “vibrant and moving environment,” when they enroll at VCU.

“I think that the Campaign is going to improve us on all fronts,” Wyeth said. “The main thrust is to give VCU political and economic power…now that we are bigger (enrollment) than Virginia Tech, we are a force to be reckoned with. We have to be at the table in higher learning affairs.”