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ORU DEBT DIPS BELOW $1 MILLION AT THE CLOSE OF MATCHING CAMPAIGN
"I am incredibly excited about the debt being reduced by such a significant amount. Debt is one of the dragons that ORU needed to slay to ensure economic sustainability, and we are almost there," said Mart Green, board chair of the ORU Board of Trustees. "I want to thank all of the alumni and friends of the university who graciously gave to support the new ORU."
The Renewing the Vision Matching Campaign was an initiative by the ORU Board of Trustees in which the trustees matched contributions dollar-for-dollar to pay off the remaining debt. The campaign was started in February 2008 and ended in April 2009. In that short period of time $22,389,401 was either donated or pledged to the campaign. There were some pledges that were not realized by the end of the campaign. With unpaid pledges factored out, the preliminary total of giving to the campaign was $22,138,595.
The trustees of ORU were excited about the quantity and dollar amounts of contributions being made by alumni and donors. They honored the efforts of these people by contributing beyond the committed match. The trustees have contributed $24,280,001 toward the university's $25 million in remaining debt, which brings the university's total debt down to $719,999.
The Renewing the Vision campaign has come to an end, but the opportunity to support ORU continues with the Whole Person Annual Fund. Gifts given to this fund will be matched dollar-for-dollar to provide full and partial scholarships to students who take part in the Whole Person Scholarship Competition. As a result of the 2009 competition, 31 students were awarded full tuition scholarships ($18,476), one student was awarded a 75% tuition scholarship ($13,857), 25 students were awarded $5000 scholarships and 451 students were awarded $2500 scholarships. Including additional scholarships funded through this program, the total dollar amount funded by the Whole Person Program this year will be approximately $8 million.
