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The
Dalton State College Foundation announced today that funds
raised during its Capital Campaign have exceeded the original
goal, surpassing the $20 million mark in as many months.
The Campaign, which began in February 2006, was initiated to
raise $20 million by the end of fall semester 2007.
“I am proud to announce today that we have raised $20.8 million
in our Fulfilling the Vision campaign,” said DSC Foundation
Chairman Bob Buchanan.
“We did this with the support of philanthropic visionaries in
our community who are committed to advancing not only Dalton
State College but the entire northwest Georgia region. While we
are proud of this level of support, we are not going to slow
down. We still want to share our vision with many more
individuals and companies who share our commitment to fulfilling
the vision of the future Dalton State.”
“Fulfilling the Vision: The Dalton State College Campaign for
Educational, Economic, and Cultural Advancement in Northwest
Georgia,” is the first-ever major fundraising campaign in the
College’s 40-year history.
Campaign Chair Sis Brown said that the campaign was a huge boost
for the College and its home community.
“My philosophy has always been that if the community is good to
you, you should give back to the community. And Dalton State
College is good for all of us and for our businesses. We’re
really asking people to invest in the future of their hometown
and in the future of their businesses.”
The four strategic aims of the campaign are growing the campus,
strengthening academic programs, enhancing student
opportunities, and bringing the campus and the community
together.
David Elrod, Director for Institutional Advancement for Dalton
State, stressed that many of the Campaign’s objectives can only
be funded with privately raised gifts. Scholarships, land
acquisition, professorships, and other initiatives cannot be
funded with state dollars.
“We are thrilled that the DSC Foundation has been so successful
with this fundraising campaign. We see this as a reflection of
the support the northwest Georgia region has for education in
general and Dalton State in particular,” Elrod said.
Expanding the campus in terms of acreage is one major goal,
Elrod said, and the DSC Foundation has already made several
steps in that direction, he says, including the purchase in
January of 77 acres on the north end of campus, a gift of 22
acres on the south end of campus, and the acquisition of the
Wood Valley Apartments in 2005.
“To continue meeting the higher education needs of the region we
serve, we must grow this campus in a way that positions us to be
responsive to area’s workforce demands in the years ahead,” said
Elrod.
“The population growth projections for our area of the state are
huge. We have to be ready for the students who are coming to
Dalton State.”
Foundation Chair Bob Buchanan said that student scholarships and
new support for faculty are ways the College can strengthen its
academic programs.
“We expect to more than double our existing scholarship program
by the time this campaign is concluded,” Buchanan said.
“We will also be supporting Study Abroad Scholarships so that
our students can benefit from the experience of learning
abroad.”
Steps toward bringing the campus and community together will be
made tangible early next year when a 75-foot Bell Tower is built
on campus, surrounded by traditional academic quadrangle, said
Campaign Chair Sis Brown.
“We’re excited about getting underway with this project. It will
totally change the campus, it will help us recruit students to
Dalton State, and it will be a resource the entire community can
enjoy.”
Opening its doors in 1967 to its first 524 students, Dalton
State today is home to more than 4,530 students from 26 counties
in Georgia, four different states and 42 foreign countries. The
DSC Foundation’s assets have grown from $3,987 in 1967 to more
than $25 million today.
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