From Father
Robert J. Wild, S.J.
The Magis Campaign, which began
in 1998 when an anonymous donor gave a $10 million gift to
help build the Raynor Library, was capped off this past spring
when Bill and Mary Diederich donated $28 million to transform
the now-named J. William and Mary Diederich College of Communication.
In the intervening seven years, more than 57,000 alumni,
friends, parents, corporations, foundations and other partners
helped make certain that the $250 million goal we originally
set for Magis was not only met but surpassed, and with flying
colors. When the final tally came in, we were thrilled, honored,
even awe-struck to report that our donors gave $357 million
to Marquette through the Magis Campaign. That is $107 million
more than we set out to raise. And while the trend undoubtedly
is for campaigns to increase in size from one drive to the
next, even when you adjust for inflation, Magis still brought
in nearly twice as much as Marquette’s prior campaign.
Through Magis our supporters have given us three signature
buildings: a dental
school that is heralded nationwide as a model for the teaching
and learning of dentistry; the Raynor
Library, which is rewriting the rules on how students and
faculty do research and share discoveries; and the Al
McGuire Center, which is giving our student-athletes unprecedented
opportunities to excel in the classroom and in competition.
Thanks to our donors, we have increased by over 50 percent
the number of endowed scholarships we provide to deserving
young men and women — most importantly, to those who
come from disadvantaged backgrounds. We have dramatically renewed
our campus by planting more than 200 new trees, adding new
and improved signage, and installing a series of portals and
gateways. We’re now able to support as never before the
research efforts of our faculty thanks in large part to an $18
million gift from the estate of Helen Way Klingler. Our
donors have given us wonderful new programs in such disciplines
as restorative justice and entrepreneurship. And they’ve
generously supported teaching and learning at Marquette, with
the Opus Group leading
the way in establishing Marquette’s first-ever endowed
deanship (in engineering) while others endowed three chairs
and two professorships.
Any way you look at it, the Magis Campaign was an unequivocal
success. So where do we go from here?
I believe we have passed the point of no return in our quest
for greatness. What I believe our supporters are now telling
us is this: Do not settle for just being very good — be
truly great. Build up the endowment so that Marquette can compete
with the great schools whose company we aspire to keep. Stay
focused on what matters most at Marquette, life-changing teaching,
path-breaking research, our core mission values of excellence,
faith, leadership and service. Don’t let up on striving
to enroll first-rate students and to recruit the best faculty.
Continue to renew the campus for the benefit of the Marquette
community, the surrounding neighborhood and the city of Milwaukee.
Make full use of the Big East Conference as an opportunity
to tell the Marquette story on a grander stage than ever before.
And stick to the fundamentals of delivering an education of
unquestionable excellence while never giving one single inch
when it comes to preserving the university’s Catholic,
Jesuit identity.
This is the message I’m hearing from our supporters
and that’s what I believe as well. And if we accept the
challenge and harness the wonderful momentum our donors have
given us through Magis, I don’t see any reason whatsoever
why we can’t become over time clearly recognized as one
of the top three or four Catholic universities in the nation.
It really is up to us. For my part, I am ready and willing
to take up that challenge and I hope you are as well.
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