CWRU to open new university center Center Multifunctional 'Tink' is loaded with technology, frames green spaces from A1

At a celebration of the opening of Case Western Reserve University's Tinkham Veale University Center on Sunday officials announced a new $1.5 billion fundraising goal.

(Thomas Ondrey, The Plain Dealer )

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Case Western Reserve University's $1 billion fundraising campaign was so successful it reached the goal 2.5 years early.

So it decided to increase the goal to $1.5 billion, officials said Sunday night.

President Barbara R. Snyder announced the "Forward Thinking" campaign's 50 percent expansion during the dedication of the $50 million Tinkham Veale University Center, which was funded entirely by donations. Also announced were several new gifts, including a $1 million pledge from Snyder and her husband Michael for undergraduate scholarships.

The five-year campaign had its public kickoff in the fall of 2011, when the university announced its goal and more than $600 million in commitments.

On Sunday, Snyder said the campaign total stands at $1.04 billion, including gifts and pledges from more than 47,000 individuals. For the fiscal year that ended June 30, alumni and friends committed a total of $151.6 million — $5.7 million more than the previous all-time record set in 2013.

The goals of the $1 billion fundraising drive were to increase financial support for students; grow the number of endowed professorships; and support significant capital projects.

Two priority projects are The Milton and Tamar Maltz Performing Arts Center at The Temple – Tifereth Israel and think[box], a 50,000-square-foot invention and innovation space to be located in the renovated Lincoln Storage building on the southwest part of campus.

"As humbled as we are by the generosity of our alumni and friends, we also are inspired by what their support allows us to achieve in education and research," Snyder said Sunday, according to a university news release. "We are continuing this effort so that we can extend this university's positive impact on individuals, communities and society at large."

The expanded campaign features the same three priorities.

On Sunday, two gifts were announced -- $4 million from Char Fowler and Roe Green to name the studio theater at The Milton and Tamar Maltz Performing Arts Center, and $1 million to think[box] — on top of a previous $1 million pledge for the same purpose — from 1967 biomedical engineering graduate Barry Romich.

The university has not set a new end date for the expanded campaign.