Dear Alumni and Friends –
Most years, in this edition of STATE Magazine, I reflect on the academic year that we just completed and marvel at the accomplishments and successes we enjoyed over a nine-month period. We have certainly celebrated a lot over the years, but what I am most proud of is the fact that we don’t rest on our success but continue to build on it and create more opportunities and innovations for our students, faculty and staff.
This year we were able to celebrate something very special. In April we completed the Bold & Blue campaign, setting a fundraising record of $604,345,119 through the generous gifts of nearly 31,000 unique donors. It is the largest capital campaign for higher education in South Dakota history by a significant amount and will transform our university for many years to come.
The campaign also engaged our students and faculty through One Day for STATE, a game-changing opportunity that showcased the power of giving and allowed our colleges and departments unique ways to reach donors, alums and friends of the university who wanted to be involved and make a positive impact.
As you will see throughout various pages of this magazine, the campaign focused on the people, places and traditions of SDSU. Our students are benefiting from a significant increase in scholarship dollars, which had a direct impact on us attracting the third-largest freshman class ever last fall.
The number of endowed positions on our campus rose from 13 to 58, ensuring that we continue to attract the best and brightest faculty to South Dakota to train and educate the next generations of leaders while conducting cutting-edge research that will solve the world’s most complex problems.
The campaign allowed us to innovate through key partnerships like the POET Bioproducts Center, where researchers and scientists are working to create high-value biproducts that will drive economic growth while protecting our planet and have a positive impact on agriculture. It is also what led to the announcement of a generous gift from Avera Health and the beginning stages of developing the SDSU Metro Center, as you will read about in the magazine.
Tradition is what allowed us to raise money to support The Pride of the Dakotas Marching Band trip to New York City, where members performed in front of thousands on the city streets and millions more watching on television during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
All these aspects of the campaign worked together to elevate our university to new heights, and the success we enjoyed will only open more doors into the future. We are truly blessed to have such generous donors and alums who care deeply about their university. It is an honor to engage with them every day and be president of SDSU. Thank you for your support!
I hope all of you are having a wonderful summer, and I look forward to seeing many of you on campus this fall. Our attention has already turned to the next academic year and what we anticipate being another strong class of incoming freshmen. It will also be football season very soon, and it should be an exciting year as we defend another national championship!
Thank you for everything you do. It is an amazing time to be a Jackrabbit.
Sincerely,
Barry H. Dunn
President
