WKU announces Opportunity Fund surpasses $100 million goal

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A massive funding milestone is set to benefit students at Western Kentucky University.

During the annual the Faculty and Staff Convocation on Monday, Aug. 12, Western Kentucky University president Timothy C. Caboni announced the WKU Opportunity Fund had surpassed its $100 million goal, according to a release by the university.

The fund raised $102,779,663, which will go to help WKU students, the release says.

“Providing students with access to a degree – access that would otherwise not be possible – opens doors for students by relieving for them a portion of their student debt,” Caboni said. “Once they are students, we work to keep them in school all the way through graduation – and this is important – because we have students who face unthinkable financial circumstances not only during their first year, but in year two, year three and year four. And sometimes the only way they can return to our Hill to finish their final semester is with a little help.”

The university says Caboni shared his vision back in April 2018 about a student-centered fundraising campaign, which would be designed to remove barriers to education through needs-based financial assistance.

In August, 2021, the release says the university had surpassed the fund’s goal of $50 million, and a new goal was set at $100 million.

Now, three years later, fundraising has eclipsed the goal. The release says 267 new endowed scholarship funds were established over a seven-year period.

According to the release, the campaign became one of the initiatives of WKU’s 10-year strategic plan and focused on recruitment, retention and support for experiences outside the classroom.

The release says data shows that experiences beyond a classroom elevate students’ overall collegiate experience.

“For those struggling to make ends meet, the notion of attending a conference or participating in study abroad, for example, may be out of reach,” Caboni said. “Without help, that is.”

Amanda Trabue, Vice President for Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement, said the campaign total includes gifts from alumni, friends, corporations, foundations and other organizations, and this total includes both current gifts and estate commitments. During the Opportunity Fund campaign, 4,044 alumni made gifts to 597 allocations, and 4,581 friends made gifts to 408 allocations.

“The WKU Spirit is never more apparent than when Hilltoppers show up for each other,” Trabue said. “Through the dedication of our alumni and friends, 20,205 students received privately funded scholarship support during the seven years of the Opportunity Fund campaign – and many more will receive support from these funds into the future.”

Planned giving, which represents gifts made through an estate commitment or other gift planning vehicle, makes up 25% of the campaign total.

“That so many alumni and friends choose to continue their legacy through a planned gift to WKU is a testament to the University’s tradition of stewarding our donors’ wishes and the joy that comes from finding the best way to make a gift that benefits the donor and the institution,” Trabue said. “These donors play an active role in the success of WKU by ensuring the programs that are important to them today are supported in the future.”

“This announcement is one that changes the lives of our students and advances our University in perpetuity,” Caboni said. “This not only affects every member of our faculty and staff and the future of our institution but is made possible only because of each of you.

“WKU faculty and staff work each day to support our students, and you are the foundation of the sense of family and community that students count on during their WKU Experience,” Caboni added. “Thank you for your work. I want to offer a special thanks to those of you who choose to give back financially to the programs that matter the most to you. Thank you to the 740 current and retired WKU employees who donated more than $6 million in total to the Opportunity Fund.”

Caboni also thanked WKU Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement, the College Heights Foundation and campus leadership for the success of the Opportunity Fund.

However, the fundraising efforts are not over.

“The tradition of creating opportunities for WKU students began in 1923 when founder Dr. Henry Hardin Cherry received a $100 gift from a faculty member to support students,” Caboni said. “This belief in paying it forward and helping others will always be part of what it means to be a Hilltopper.”

An event will be held on Friday, Sept. 20 to celebrate the success of the Opportunity Fund.

For more information about the WKU Opportunity Fund, contact WKU Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement at 270-745-6208.