Posted with permission from the Watertown Daily Times

Editorial
Higher education
SLU campaign will benefit north country

Friday, October 20, 2006


St. Lawrence University announced a $200 million fund drive Saturday night. Already the campaign has lined up $86 million in commitments to aid the university's path toward even greater excellence. While the size of the campaign is daunting to most Northern New Yorkers, it is also inspiring.

It wasn't long ago that the university completed a major capital campaign by exceeding its initial financial goal by about a third. Those funds were invested in new facilities, renovation of old buildings, scholarship aid and support for teaching.

In the new effort, half the funds raised will be added to the endowment, assuring that the university, its faculty and students will prosper in perpetuity. Much of the rest will be used to finish construction of the new science and mathematics complex and to expand and improve the space devoted to the arts.

The north country is blessed with two great private universities — St. Lawrence and Clarkson. Each school attracts students from around the world; but most importantly the schools provide a wonderful opportunity to young people from across Northern New York. And each appeals to a broad universe which is willing to support the north country.


It is gratifying to know that St. Lawrence has an alumni base capable of investing $200 million here. A strong St. Lawrence means a stronger north country, more opportunity for our college-bound students, broader diversity and the presence of creative thinking which challenges the status quo.

President Daniel F. Sullivan, whose remarks delivered at the celebration Saturday in Canton are excerpted elsewhere on this page, is leading the university through a transformation. The rigor of the academic programs increases each year. New athletic facilities, a new science center and expansion of an already vibrant emphasis on the arts make the university stronger, appealing to an ever-widening swath of potential students.

St. Lawrence has aptly labelled the campaign Momentum St. Lawrence. St. Lawrence stands out in the north country as a leading provider of quality education, scholarship and thought. Its momentum will be felt and appreciated across the region.