Board of Trustees discuss True North campaign, Peters' scholarship and capital projects

NIU alumni can pat themselves on the back.

True North, NIU’s capital fundraising campaign, has surpassed its goal of $150 million nine months earlier than it had planned. The campaign, which began May 5, 2007, had hoped to reach that number by June 2010.

True North Co-Chair John Castle expressed his pride and pleasure with the program.

“I cannot tell you how hard these people have worked to make this campaign a success,” he said while addressing the NIU Board of Trustees Thursday. “But, there is more work to be done.”

The NIU Foundation, the main fundraising organization on campus, oversees the True North campaign.

Of the $150 million already brought in, much has been spent. Barsema Hall, the Yordon Center and the Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center were all paid for through donations to the fund.

Several fellowships as well as 20 named professorships have been created as well. Perhaps the most important expenditure during these economic times has been the creation of over 13,700 scholarships. The Forward Together Forward scholarship, which was created in honor of the five students that died in the Feb. 14 shootings, is one of the most prominent examples of these scholarships.

Even though the organization has met its goal, they are still pushing to bring in more donations.

“Donors can designate where they would like their donations to go,” said NIU President John Peters. “You can pick a cause and the foundation will find the area in that cause of most need.”

Peters and his wife Barbara are themselves donors to True North, and they have established one of the many scholarships.

“I chose to award a scholarship to students who plan on moving on in politics and public service once they leave the university,” Peters said.

New Board of Trustees Student Trustee Matt Venaas was the recipient of the Peters’ Scholarship this year.

The efforts of the True North campaign are shown in the impact it has had on dollar amounts of donations. Since the program began, it has raised the $150 million dollars it sought. In the entire decade of the 90s, NIU raised just $35 million.

Castle said NIU isn’t the sole beneficiary from the money that True North has brought in.

“This campaign has brought in not just much-needed money, but it has also brought about cohesion in the NIU community through fundraising efforts,” he said.

Castle presented the results of the campaign to the NIU Board of Trustees just before the board approved the NIU 2011 appropriated capital budget request.

The budget request will now be submitted to the Illinois Board of Higher Education, that will then consider the budget to be included in the 2011 IBHE Capital Budget Recommendation.

NIU is budgeting $135,902 for capital projects and is requesting $120,018. The remaining $15,883 will come from funds left over from the previous year and out-of-state funds. Among the requests are a Computer Science and Technology Center, a renovation of Wirtz Hall and general repairs.This is just a request for an appropriation and the money is not guaranteed.

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