SUNY Chancellor Announces Success of "$3 Billion Challenge"

New York City – State University of New York Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher today, at the first ever SUNY Campus Foundation Summit held at the SUNY Global Center, announced the successful end of a multi-year University-wide fundraising campaign known as the “$3 Billion Challenge.”

“Today marks an exciting milestone for the State University of New York,” said Chancellor Zimpher. “The completion of the ‘$3 Billion Challenge’ is testament to our strength as the nation's largest system of higher education. Our campus foundations will be key to achieving the goals set out in our strategic plan, The Power of SUNY: to revitalize New York's economy and enhance the quality of life for its citizens."

The Campus Foundation Summit serves as a convener for over 100 internal and external stakeholders including campus presidents, chief advancement officers and campus foundation members from across the SUNY system. The Summit provided for a candid and creative discussion about the future of the University, national best practices for public college foundations, and the role that philanthropy will play in advancing The Power of SUNY, the University’s bold vision for the next five years and beyond.

Featured at the Summit was a panel of prominent philanthropists discussing their views of the impact philanthropy can have on public higher education. The panel included James Simons of the Stony Brook Foundation and Emily Grant, chair of the Purchase College Foundation.

Also presented at the Summit was a call for collaboration for SUNY’s advocacy agenda, and discussion on how to best engage alumni and student supporters.

“Together, we must capture our most powerful audience,” said SUNY Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer Monica Rimai. “With half a million students currently enrolled and 2.4 million alumni, most of which still live right here in New York, it is critical that we use their reach and diversity to get our message across to decisions makers.”

Earlier in the day, a meeting of the campus chief advancement officers took place, also at the SUNY Global Center. The group, known as “SUNY Advance,” discussed, among other things, the implementation of The Power of SUNY, alumni data collection, and the reporting of metrics.

“We must be the links in this network of supporters,” Fardin Sanai, vice president for advancement at the University at Albany and chair of SUNY Advance told the crowd. “There is no limit to our reach when we realize the possibilities of what we can do as a system – and we need to strengthen those working relationships daily.”

About the State University of New York

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating nearly 465,000 students in more than 7,500 degree and certificate programs on 64 campuses. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu 

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