Funding drive launched

Although Chancellor James Moeser's State of the University address focused on global outreach, he made sure the importance of student needs was not lost.

He launched an initiative to further draw qualified students to campus.

Moeser announced Wednesday that the University will launch a campaign to raise $60 million for merit-based scholarships.

Officials said the drive will help lure the best and brightest students to attend UNC.

"I think it will make a big difference in attracting high-ability students who might go elsewhere," said Shirley Ort, director of scholarships and student aid.

Leaders said the campaign will create an endowment supporting more than 600 new merit-based scholarships - bringing the total number of such awards to 1,400.

The University already has received $10 million to jump-start the campaign. The funds came from the will of alumnus Col. John Harvey Robinson, a career U.S. Army officer from New York who received his master's degree from UNC in 1957.

"There was clearly something special about UNC that stuck with him," said Tom Heath, Robinson's cousin, who represented his family at the address.

Moeser said he expects this fund to provide $500,000 annually for new merit-based scholarships after one year of investment.

Last year, all proceeds from the sale of trademark-licensed products were donated to scholarships and financial aid, creating 55 new merit-based scholarships this year.

Ort said she thinks a similar number of merit-based scholarships will be created this year as a result of the campaign.

Those awards are crucial to keeping North Carolina's brightest students in the state, Lucido said. If in-state students attend UNC, he said their talents and leadership potential will stay in the area.

"If we can keep these students, we can not only attract these students to UNC, but keep them in the state afterward," Lucido said.

Lucido said the campaign also will create more scholarship opportunities for out-of-state students.

"This will bring greater talent from across the nation. Greater talent and greater diversity," he said.

Moeser stressed that these new scholarships will not take away from need-based aid.

He said he is proud that UNC is one of few universities that meets 100 percent of its students' demonstrated financial need.

"We need to intensify our recruitment of students with exceptional academic and leadership potential, but we shall not do this at the expense of our support for need-based awards," Moeser said in his address.

"Some institutions have diverted funds from need-based aid to recruit high-ability students," he continued. "That approach is contrary to our values."

 

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.