Houghton University Surpasses $70M Campaign Goal

June 15, 2020 – Houghton University President Shirley Mullen announced that Houghton University surpassed the $70,000,000 goal for IMPACT: The Campaign for Greater Houghton. This comprehensive campaign, which concluded on May 31, received a total of $70,523,420 in gifts and commitment from 9,084 unique donors. The announcement was made via a live virtual event on the college’s social media channels. 

“The IMPACT campaign has laid the foundation for Houghton’s future in critical ways,” remarked Mullen. “IMPACT has significantly strengthened our capacity to keep Houghton affordable for the very kind of students who have always been at the heart of Houghton’s mission—those who would not otherwise be able to afford a high-quality Christian education. This means increased capacity to serve more first-generation students; more students of color, especially in our region’s urban areas; and more adult learners. Furthermore, IMPACT has substantially enlarged the circle of alumni and friends throughout the country and the world who share the vision of Houghton University and want to partner with an institution committed to ‘fixing up our world’ in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

Publicly launched in October 2017, IMPACT celebrated the transformative impact a Houghton education has on its students, the ongoing impact a Houghton education has on its alumni, the Kingdom impact Houghton alumni continue to have on the world, the local and regional impact Houghton has on its communities, and the legacy impact donors have in shaping the future of Houghton University. The overall goal of the campaign was to expand Houghton’s capacity for global impact. 

The campaign focused on three distinct priorities: Access and Affordability, enabling a Houghton education to be more accessible and affordable for students; Strategic Campus Enhancement, supporting capital projects vital to Houghton’s future; and Academic and Experiential Investment, supporting curricular and co-curricular work on campus and the expansion of Greater Houghton. 

The $33 million-dollar goal for Access and Affordability was far exceeded with gifts totaling $41,042,539. Strategic Campus Enhancement projects were supported with a total of $24,473,749, allowing the completion of three key capital projects: the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex, the Equestrian Event Center and extensive renovations throughout the Paine Center for Science. In addition, $5,007,132 was received for Academic and Experiential Investment, endowing programs and professorships and expanding the regional and global reach of Houghton University. 

“Perhaps the most exciting outcome of IMPACT, at least to me personally,” observed Karl Sisson, vice president for advancement and external engagement, “was the creation of 90 new endowed scholarships. These endowed student scholarships will provide much–needed financial aid in perpetuity for our students; they are tremendous legacy gifts. During our campaign, we also received $12,730,802 for our Student Scholarship Fund, in part thanks to overwhelming participation in our annual One Day Giving Challenge over the past six years.” 

 “Our students,” concluded Mullen, “both the students of today and the students of the future, are at the heart of IMPACT: The Campaign for Greater Houghton. Equipping them for lives of scholar-servanthood is our primary focus, and the tremendous outpouring of generosity in this campaign has been inspired by care for the students who follow the Lord’s calling to Houghton.”