Campaign recap

from Madison Magazine: Winter 2023

Alumni for Life

Thank you for giving to Unleashed: The Campaign for James Madison University. Your generosity will impact JMU for years, decades, even generations to come.

By Pam Brock

underdogs NO MORE

One of the centerpiece building projects of the Unleashed campaign was the College of Business Learning Complex, shown here from Interstate 81/ Port Republic Road.

A celebration of gratitude and giving

(Below, clockwise): Paul Holland (’82), Linda Yates and Maribeth Herod (’82); Cindy (’93) and Phillip (’92) Salopek; JMU President Jonathan R. Alger; Eric (’91) and Lara Parker (’92) Major; Patricia and Darnell Whitaker (’24P) with Anthony Tongen In 2014, the Madison community started out on an ambitious journey — to set JMU apart and position it among the nation’s top universities. Through the generosity of nearly 64,000 donors who gave more than a quarter of a billion dollars for scholarships, programs and new buildings, Unleashed: The Campaign for James Madison University is helping to achieve that, while also making an incalculable impact on the lives of Dukes for generations to come.

Giving to JMU totaled more than $251 million, pushing the eight-year comprehensive campaign past all of its goals. It’s yet another instance of JMU defying the odds, with donors exceeding the goal of Unleashed by $51 million and exceeding expectations by almost twice that.

The campaign began July 1, 2014, with initial planning projections of $150 million. Going public in 2018 with a total giving goal of $200 million,

Unleashed concluded June 30, 2022, riding a growing wave of alumni advocacy and generosity, and persisting through crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, associated financial hardship and social upheaval.

Donors’ giving not only eclipsed the $200 million Unleashed goal 18 months early, in March 2021, but also continued for the rest of the campaign in response to JMU President Jonathan R. Alger’s call for more scholarships for more students and accounting for 25% over goal. In fact, the final year of the campaign was JMU’s highest year of giving ever.