… that’s how Western Michigan University president Edward Montgomery described it – a record-setting gift of $550 million, the largest private donation ever made to a public university.
We called it “transformational” and were proud, delighted and honored to join the WMU client team and our colleagues at Graham-Pelton to create, produce and implement the announcement strategy.
“Not only is the $550 million in aggregate a staggering sum, the biggest sum ever given to a public institution in U.S. history,“ said Montgomery, “but each of the component gifts is the largest on record we’ve ever received by probably a factor of three. The size and impact of this gift will generate opportunities not just for this year, not just for next year, but catalyzing opportunities that will change the condition and transform lives for generations to come.”
As Michigan’s leading higher education institution for helping graduates improve their lives through social mobility, Western takes pride in being an opportunity university and understands it’s not where you start in life but where you finish. Thousands of first-generation college students have chosen Western for its high-quality education. They earn degrees that helped them change the trajectory of their lives and that of their families.
“‘Empowering Futures’ will pave the way for transforming even more lives,” Montgomery said, “by putting higher education and experiential learning affordably in reach for many who might not otherwise attain their college dreams.”
Pretty cool, no?
Read more about it here:
Watch it here:
https://wmich.edu/empoweringfutures