Monday, November 17, 1997
Campaign raises billions to augment state funds
ADMINISTRATION:
Influx of private donations pays for increased expensesBy Mason
Stockstill
Daily Bruin Staff
Campaign UCLA. No, not a PR stunt to get presidential candidates
to stop here on the campaign trail. Rather, it’s the latest attempt
to make up for the university’s lack of sufficient state
funding.
The campaign, described as "a singular opportunity to make a
profound and lasting contribution," has been in its public stage
since June, when a huge gala event in front of Royce Hall kicked it
off.
The campaign’s goal is to raise $1.2 billion by the year 2002,
similar to UC Berkeley’s goal of $1.1 billion, announced in
September 1996.
Over $400 million of the current total was raised during the
"pre-public" phase of the campaign, in which private donors were
sought out and encouraged to get the ball rolling with large,
"leadership" grants.
"The record-breaking philanthropic support of the past two years
is a mark of distinction for UCLA," said Chancellor Albert
Carnesale.
But where does all that privately raised money go?
Campaign UCLA statistics show that the majority of 1995-96
donations go to "campus improvements," followed closely by
"research."
A meager 8.9 percent of privately raised funds went to student
aid, but that is to be expected, Carnesale said.
"People would rather give money for something that they can see,
like a building or an endowed chair," he said.
But despite the $14.5 million raised during the campaign for
student aid (roughly $416 per student), the private donations have
not gone toward lowering student registration fees.
"Many of the donations for student aid go to things such as
scholarships," Carnesale said.
Though rising student fees are usually blamed on state funding
cuts, it would appear to be UCLA’s increase in expenditures, and
not state funding cuts, that have caused a budget gap during the
past 10 school years.
While state funds allocated to UCLA have remained relatively
stable in the $400 million to $500 million range, expenditures by
the university have increased over 40 percent  from $1.2
billion to over $2 billion.
But, UCLA pushes to keep up with these increasing expenditures,
and Campaign UCLA’s lofty goal is a reflection of this.
"We are ensuring that UCLA will always be a place where great
futures begin," said Associate Vice Chancellor Michael Eicher in a
campaign update.
And UCLA continues to grow, with more and more new freshmen
admitted each year.
"We’re the smallest UC campus, and we have the largest student
body," Carnesale said. "Our need for private funds will
continue."
UCLA is not the only public school in the state that has
launched a massive effort to raise more private funds.
The UCLA campaign has mirrored a similar endeavor at Berkeley to
some extent, even taking on the appearance of one-upmanship in the
past.
When Berkeley announced their "New Century Campaign" in 1996, it
was hailed as "the most ambitious fund-raising campaign in the
history of any public university" by university officials.
Soon thereafter, then-Chancellor Charles Young changed the goal
of Campaign UCLA from close to $1 billion to its current $1.2
billion, and press releases called the campaign "an unprecedented
fund-raising effort."
Carnesale, however, doesn’t believe that there is any
correlation between Berkeley’s campaign and UCLA’s.
"I’m not aware of any sort of competition between ourselves and
Berkeley," the chancellor said. "I don’t even know what their goal
is."
Regardless of this, administrators and regents all seem to agree
that private fund raising is a necessity in today’s world of
decreasing state support for public universities.
"In today’s day and age, it’s very important that chancellors
act as fund raisers for the university," said Lt. Gov. Gray
Davis.