Give Light, The Campaign for Baylor

On November 1, Give Light our $1.1 billion comprehensive philanthropic campaign officially launched. The campaign undergirds Illuminate, the University’s academic strategic plan, and will impact every aspect of campus life – academics, athletics, student life, and service learning, while also bolstering financial support for our students and campus community.

Building on the framework of Pro Futuris, the strategic vision Baylor adopted several years ago, Illuminate affirms that Baylor exists to demonstrate that faith is not a deterrent to scholarship. Rather, faith is the very motivation for discovering the richness of creation. It compels us to engage with issues spanning the academic and intellectual spectrum, fostering productive dialogues that ultimately bring discoveries to bear on the most complex problems of today.

Collaboration is vital to finding solutions to the immense challenges facing our world. Illuminate calls for faculty to engage in multidisciplinary academic initiatives and contribute as mentors to undergraduates and graduate students through high-impact learning experiences. Illuminate initiatives are developed around areas where existing collaboration among Baylor faculty members is yielding results and where continued work and additional investment will galvanize interest among researchers and academic leaders on our campus.

At launch of the public phase of Give Light, the University celebrated success in a “silent” phase that has propelled the campaign to nearly half its goal. Begun with the start of our strategic vision Pro Futuris, fundraising supported completion of important five-year goals that paved the way for the launch of Illuminate.

Recent gifts such as $1 million from Waco Scottish Rite to endow Communication Sciences and Disorders’ Camp Success, $3.5 million from Mark and Jennifer McCollum to establish the McCollum Family Chair in Data Sciences, $2.5 million from Lynda and Robert Copple to establish the Lynda and Robert Copple Endowed Chair in Christian School Leadership, the opening of the Louise Herrington School of Nursing Academic Building after a successful $28 million fundraising initiative, and many more have brought us to this point.

Continued fundraising will be focused on three critical areas of support: Endowed funds – to establish endowed chairs and professorships, endowed scholarships and endowed funds for growth priorities; expendable funds to support immediate needs, athletics, and global learning experiences; and capital projects that add capacity for academic growth.

As the campaign unfolds, each member of the Baylor Family will have the opportunity to find their place of support. Our future will be determined by our ability to celebrate who we are and pursue our bold course together.

To learn more about Give Light: The Campaign for Baylor, visit baylor.edu/givelight.