The Spirit of Notre Dame Campaign: The Final Report
When it launched seven years ago, to enormous anticipation but little fanfare, the Spirit of Notre Dame campaign bore the aspirations of a University that had built up tremendous academic momentum, but that desired, still, to be acknowledged among the finest research universities in the world.
Spirit carried with it the gravity of a 2,000-year-old faith tradition, together with all the youthful buoyancy and optimism of our students, young people who rightly believe they can make a difference in the world — that, in fact, their Notre Dame education demands it of them.
It was a campaign unprecedented in its comprehensiveness. Spirit sought improvements to virtually every academic department and program, an extraordinary infusion of financial assistance for students, innovations to an already acclaimed undergraduate curriculum, widespread enhancements to the campus, an increased attention to Notre Dame’s role in a global society, and a deepening of the University’s foundational Catholic identity.
Today, thanks to you, we have realized nearly every goal articulated for the campaign — and then some.
On May 12, 2011, just seven weeks shy of the campaign’s June 30 conclusion, the University announced that the campaign had achieved something truly historic. Surpassing its $1.5-billion target, the campaign hit — and soon exceeded — $2 billion, making Notre Dame the first university without a medical school to raise such a sum in seven years.
While certainly noteworthy, this achievement pales in comparison to the accomplishments of all those in the Notre Dame family who responded with uncommon grace and generosity to the challenge of an extremely ambitious and visionary fundraising endeavor. Out of practical necessity, the report featured here highlights but a small selection of gifts; it is our sincere attempt to convey the impact of the campaign, your impact, on the University, on her students, and on the world at large. It is, more than that, an expression of our most profound gratitude and appreciation.
“The Spirit of Notre Dame campaign has been stupendously successful because each one of us has come together to affirm the value of a Notre Dame education and to imagine, collectively, a future for this University that is far brighter and more impactful than any one of us could have imagined on our own.”
- Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Notre Dame President
