Donors’ funding sets mark for YSU

By SHELBY SCHROEDER

The campaign also aims to boost scholarship money for students.

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University officials thanked strong community support for a year of record fundraising for the Centennial Capital Campaign.

The university set a goal of $7 million for scholarships, but nearly doubled its student scholarship fund to $13.2 million, and the YSU Annual Fund surpassed the $1 million mark for the first time in the university’s 100-year history.

YSU President Dr. David Sweet also received applause for his work at the college.

Sweet stood at a podium beside a bronze memorial of former YSU President Howard Jones to recognize the success of YSU’s $43 million Centennial Capital Campaign. He thanked organizers and contributors Friday for exceeding the annual fundraising goals with less than seven months to the year’s end.

“These two fundraising milestones are reflective of the continued strong support for Youngstown State University and its mission,” Sweet said.

The Centennial Capital Campaign, which began four years ago, aims to boost scholarship money for students, funding for departments and capital improvements on campus.

Included in the capital improvements budget is $16 million for the new Warren P. Williamson Jr. College of Business Administration building, which the university plans to locate between campus and downtown.

The cost of the new college of business building rose $1 million recently to accommodate a more environmentally friendly design. Funding for that project is estimated at 80 percent complete.

Tony Lariccia of Boardman, businessman, philanthropist and campaign chairman, thanked the dozens of contributors, and also spoke of the university’s success in terms of Sweet’s personal efforts.

“President Sweet is right up there with President Jones. His last name epitomizes what he is,” said Lariccia, a 1966 YSU grad. “He’s sweet and sensational. We can’t thank him enough.”

The campaign set a goal of raising $1 million a year in the annual fund by the end of fiscal year 2009. Sweet announced that the campaign has reached that goal a year early, raising $1.07 million in fiscal year 2008, the highest annual total in university history, says the university’s Web site.

YSU Foundation President Reid Schmutz said the money raised was a success, but he stressed students still have a heavy reliance on private funding in today’s economy.

The foundation for years has supported scholarships for YSU students.

Schmutz told of a student who wrote to him, concerned that cuts in her financial aid would keep her from continuing at the university. He said scholarship money from the current $13.2 million endowment will go toward making sure students like her are successful at the college.