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Message from the President
This is a significant time in the history of George Mason University. With
the launch of our first comprehensive fundraising campaign, we are taking a bold
step toward elevating our entire institution to the highest levels. The Campaign
for George Mason University is designed to broaden our base of private support
and help us realize our promise and our potential.
The campaign goal - to raise over $110 million by June 2005 - is built upon the
needs of our academic units, our students, our alumni, and our community. In fact,
it is each of our aspirations for excellence that drives this major fundraising
initiative and, in essence, is the heart of the campaign.
George Mason is part of a world driven by new social, economic, and technological
realities, and our challenge is to define how we can best serve this great region.
I firmly believe that the campaign will provide us with the resources necessary
to meet challenges and seize opportunities. It will help us build on our proud
tradition of innovation, imagination, and resourceful and responsive thinking.
The campaign's launch comes at a time when the Commonwealth of Virginia is
grappling with a serious revenue shortfall. This is one reason a successful campaign
is so critical. As we adjust to the state budget cuts and continue to work with
the legislature for public dollars, we look to the campaign to support targeted
needs such as scholarships, faculty endowment, and community outreach programs.
Thus, the campaign serves as a catalyst for future funding priorities.
In closing, let me emphasize that this is truly a community effort. Through
vision, hard work, creativity, and the support of many, we can achieve our mission
and advance our status as an institution of the 21st century. I am personally
gratified by faculty and staff who have already stepped forward through their
ideas, their encouragement, and their desire to create a great university in a
region that demands the best. Please join us as we embark on what promises to
be an exciting and rewarding journey. What we do at this moment will make a difference
for years to come.
Alan G. Merten
President
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