Adelphi University Celebrates Most Successful Fundraising Campaign

Adelphi University celebrated its most successful fundraising campaign to date, closing with a grand total of $58.5 million donated over the past five years.

The overwhelming support helped the university exceed its goal by $2.5 million.

Adelphi president Dr. Robert Scott said Monday that the "Campaign for Adelphi University: Building Adelphi's Future One Story at a Time" was the most prosperous fundraising cause in the university's 116-year history.

Complete with speeches, student performances and a refreshment/dessert party, the event was a very proud moment for Adelphi faculty, staff, students and university supporters alike.

“The completion of Adelphi's first-ever comprehensive fundraising campaign represents a significant milestone in the ongoing success story of the university. The philanthropic support has been transformative,” said Dr. Scott. “The campaign allows us to build a stronger University for today and tomorrow.”

The Monday afternoon celebration held on campus at the Performing Arts Center recognized the generosity of more than 16,000 individual donors. Two record-breaking signature donations of $9.5 million were given by Adelphi board of trustees chairman Robert B. Willumstad '05 (Hon.), for whom the School of Business is now named after, and former trustee Carol A. Ammon M.B.A. '79, '10 (Hon.), who donated in honor of her late mother Ruth S. Ammon, for whom the School of Education is named.

Other on campus facilities such as Motamed Field and Polack Plaza and the Horace G. McDonell Summer Research Science Fellowship Program are also the result of generous additions to the campaign. Fourteen additional gifts of $1 million or more were given by 13 benefactors, and more than 28,000 gifts were received by the Annual Fund from alumni.

“Our deepest thanks goes to Dr. Scott for his dedication, vision and leadership, and to the many donors who supported the campaign and believed strongly in Adelphi's mission and future,” said trustee and campaign co-chair Leon M. Pollack '63, a member of the university's Million Dollar Round Table. “Our community and alumni responded in an overwhelmingly positive way to our first-ever comprehensive campaign, and I am incredibly proud and grateful for what we have accomplished together.”

The donations have enabled Adelphi to create 112 new scholarships as well as provide funds for faculty development. New buildings like the Center for Recreation and Sports, Performing Arts Center and the Alice Brown Early Learning Center are now part of Adelphi's campus, as well as the newly renovated Woodruff Hall gym, which was one of the university's original three buildings on the Garden City campus.

Adelphi also met their $3.6 million challenge grant presented by The Kresge Foundation, an organization that works to create opportunity and have community impact.

Student programs such as dance and music have been greatly enhanced by the campaign and new facilities are seeing enrollment increases of 20 percent. Students in social work and education are able to interact with children through field work at the Alice Brown Early Learning Center. The Center for Recreation and Sports allowed Adelphi to increase participation in intramural sports and recreation by 30 percent since its 2008 opening. The university has also sponsored multiple sold-out events hosting influential individuals such as Olympian Michael Phelps, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel and renowned anthropologist Jane Goodall.

“It's a very proud moment for me as chairman,” said Willumstad. “The campaign inspired individuals from a range of backgrounds to give generously and unite, which has brought a renewed energy to campus. In addition, this enables Adelphi to continue to uphold the highest standards of educational excellence while serving the broader community.”

Since the launch of the campaign in October 2007, Adelphi has been recognized by The Fiske Guide to Colleges as one of the nation's “best and most interesting” institutions and for seven consecutive years has been listed among a select number of “Best Buys” in higher education.