As the final stretch of its seven-year fundraising campaign, Hopkins will kick off its Knowledge for the World Tour in San Francisco this Saturday.
"There are large pockets of alumni and friends in these six cities," Charles Phlegar, interim vice president for Development and Alumni Relations, said. "We're trying to be a lot more visible than we have in the past. We're trying to reach out to a broader audience and engage them long term."
"The goal of the regional campaign events is to engage large numbers of alumni and friends around the country and to inspire them to join in advancing Hopkins' ambitious agenda," Sybil Wyatt, director of Development Communications, said.
The Knowledge for the World Campaign was started in 2000 with the goal of raising $2 billion for all Hopkins institutions, including the hospitals. As of last week, the campaign had raised $2.132 billion.
"You will probably ask why are we still campaigning if we have already raised more than our goal," Fritz Schroeder, associate vice president of development, said. "But the goal is only part of the campaign. And although we have met our overall goal there are still certain projects that we need more money for, like the renovation of Gilman and scholarships."
Jerry Schnydman, executive assistant to the president, echoed Schroeder: "There are lots of projects that need funding so we need to keep raising money."
Although money is still needed for the Gilman Hall renovation, graduate fellowships, undergraduate scholarships and endowed professorships donors usually specify where they want their money to go.
Wyatt explained, "[The donors] have specific Hopkins affiliations and interests and decide which programs or initiatives they want to support. Throughout the campaign, we're highlighting four priorities: investing in students through scholarships, faculty through professorships, academic and research programs and critically important facilities."
Phlegar agreed, "Most donors have particular interests and they usually tell us where they want their money to go. It is rare that we have an influence over people's decisions to give."
Although it's difficult to convince donors to put their money into specific projects, students and faculty can sometimes urge the University to focus their fundraising efforts on certain areas.
"Students have, in recent years, stated a desire for four-year housing," Schroeder said. "So we put an emphasis on raising money for the Charles Commons."
Professors also have an input. Schroeder said, "In coordination with [School of Arts and Sciences] Dean Adam Falk and the faculty, we saw that Arts and Sciences needed a home, which is why we are renovating Gilman."
The six visits are two Saturdays apart and involve films about Hopkins activities around the world, three "idea forums" with faculty and sometimes alumni and remarks from the president, the provost, the nation chair of the regional campaign and the local campaign council chair.
In San Francisco, Provost Steven Knapp will moderate a panel called "Countering the Nuclear Threat," while President William Brody and Falk will moderate panels entitled "Medical Horizons" and "The Mysteries of History" respectively.
All six cities on the tour will be visited by Brody, Knapp and several deans and directors as well as participating faculty. The cities on the tour are San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York and Boston.
