25 Aug HU Surpasses Goal by $22 Million!

Dr. Sherilyn Emberton, president of Huntington University, speaking at a press conference about the Step Forward campaign.

Huntington University set out to raise $34 million, and ended up raising over $56 million! HU made the announcement earlier this week.

In 2014, as the Huntington University Board of Trustees looked toward the schools 125th anniversary in 2022, they approved Step Forward, a comprehensive campaign to raise $34 million, the largest campaign in University history.

“For those of us in the room when that was decided, that was a large goal and frankly, a pretty daunting one,” said Tom Clounie, Advancement Committee chair. “And it had a ticking clock on it. We knew this campaign was intended to wrap up in 2022 as part of the University’s 125th birthday year.”

That $34 million figure included funding for six capital projects, nine new academic program launches, and growing the endowment and scholarship funds. Seeing how well things were going, the trustees upped the goal to $40 million in the fall of 2019.

Capital Projects
When this campaign launched in 2014, only six capital projects were on the University’s radar. But the University has gone well beyond that. Below are the capital projects which have been completed since 2014.

• New occupational therapy labs ($75K).
• Renovations at HU Arizona to create space for an entire occupational therapy program location ($125K).
• The reconfiguration of the Nursing Lab in the Dowden Science Hall ($300K).
• Forest Glen baseball field renovations and new turf project ($1.3M).
• The reimagination of the student center (known as the HUB) ($4.3M).
• The construction of the Welcome Center as part of the Merillat Centre for the Arts ($800K).
• The Ware Plant Science Production Facility addition to Dowden Science Hall ($500K)
• The construction of the Don Strauss Animal Science Education Center ($1.2M).
• The creation of the esports competition lab ($35K).
• The updates to the sand volleyball court and construction of the pavilion ($50K).
• The UB Launch renovation ($100K).

Endowment
$5.8 million has been added to the University endowment. That’s over $1.8 million more than the goal. The overall endowment during the campaign years (2014-2022) has increased by 50%.

New Academic Programs

• $3.8 million has been invested in launching five new academic programs, including.
• The Doctoral Program in Occupational Therapy — one of the first in the country.
• The Bachelor of Science degree in occupational therapy assistant — the first in the country.
• The Bachelor of Science degree in engineering.
• The Master of Business Administration degree.
• 12 degree programs in agriculture.

Academic Upgrades

• Nearly $1.2 million has been invested in academic upgrades and improvements, including:
• Additional academic classroom resources ($250K).
• Anatomage Tables ($300K).
• Agriculture tractors/trucks/equipment ($400K).
• Technology ($200K).

Investing in People

• Scholarships. $4.3 million has been raised toward the Forester Fund, HU’s student scholarship fund, which provides financial assistance for over 90% of the University’s traditional undergraduate students. Every dollar raised for that Fund goes directly toward student scholarships. Since 2014, overall enrollment has increased by 12.7%.
• Employees. $4.8 million has been invested in personnel and employee compensation.

“The results of this campaign allow HU to move forward faster to accomplish the mission God has called us to do,” said Dr. Sherilyn Emberton, president of Huntington University. “God’s faithfulness to the University through challenging times and a global pandemic is beyond evident in this campaign, not only in the capital projects completed and the dollars raised, but more importantly in the lives impacted. Nearly 400 additional graduates earned HU degrees as a direct result of this campaign. That’s a powerful statement to the steps of faith taken by so many since 2014.”