New Center for BioHealth is focus of UNTHSC’s first capital campaign

HSC family leads finish-out efforts with 2004 Campus Pride fundraiser

Just like the handful of academic pioneers who began building our institution from scratch 34 years ago, the employees of today’s health science center have joined together to exceed expectations and make history.

In just three months of fundraising, 599 UNTHSC employees, or 58 percent of all faculty and staff, contributed to the 2004 Campus Pride Campaign. The amount donated so far by the health science center “family,” including the UNTHSC Foundation board of directors, is almost $350,000.

Both the number of donors and the dollars raised so far are unprecedented in the annals of the institution’s fundraising campaigns, Dr. Cheryl Kimberling (pictured at left), vice president for institutional advancement, said. Such a high rate of employee participation will definitely add strength to advancement’s funding proposals to foundations, corporations and individuals for a portion of the almost $15 million that is needed to finish out and furnish the new Center for BioHealth, she said.

"For a young institution, especially one long reliant on state funding, this is an extraordinary achievement,” Dr. Kimberling said. “But not a total surprise. Increased participation in the UNTHSC Foundation’s last two annual drives for the President’s Progress Fund and scholarships hinted at this positive trend.”

President Ronald Blanck, DO, requested that the Foundation’s 2004 fund drive be focused on the new BioHealth building.

"This new building is a very public symbol of our health science center’s ability to keep achieving the next level of excellence in all that we do,” he said. “And so far, hundreds of generous people have stepped forward to proudly put their name on it. My deepest appreciation goes to them, to those who still plan to participate in the campaign, to the employee captains [recognize some of the faces at right] and to the staff of institutional advancement for organizing the campaign.”

Dr. Kimberling said that 18 Campus Pride Campaign employee captains were the “heart and soul” behind the successful campus fund drive. “Their personal relationships with their co-workers have been essential to spreading the word and generating enthusiasm for the cause.”

Student leaders and retirees have also begun their own campaigns.

To participate in the 2004 Campus Pride Campaign, please email alumni@hsc.unt.edu.