Washington State University celebrated the conclusion of its $1 billion dollar fundraising campaign with a barbeque and speeches from student and faculty speakers on the Glenn Terrell Mall on Friday.

Along with thanking the donors, speakers emphasized big ideas behind the school’s campaign – health, food, sustainability, global leadership and the state of Washington – during the event. The speakers recognized the accomplishment of raising $1 billion, but also took a moment to discuss the future opportunities that are now available with these private funds. 

Dan Bernardo, interim president, noted that it would be impossible to discuss any current WSU program or ideas without acknowledging the influence of former WSU president Elson S. Floyd.

“When President Floyd arrived on our campus in fall of 2007 he had the courage to ask what else we must do,” Bernardo said while addressing the audience.  “Where else must we go next? Where do the needs of the state, the nation and the world meet?”

Questions such as these are what drove the campaign to become the largest in WSU history, with 819,149 individual donations from a total of 206,259 donors, and made WSU more accessible to students and researchers for many years to come.

“Now why would almost a quarter of a million people do that? Because philanthropy is magic,” said John Gardner, CEO of the WSU Foundation.

Guy Palmer, the founding director of the Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, discussed the monumental impact of the campaign funds on the research departments.

“If we look at this broader definition of health, WSU has always done this,” Palmer said.

Palmer defined health not as the absence of disease, but a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being. He discussed several modern issues, such as transmission of diseases from animals to humans, safe foods and vaccine resistance that WSU and their global partners are tackling and are directly benefited by the campaign funds.

“These are areas where WSU already had expertise, it just needed to be directed into this global health gap,” Palmer said.

Karissa Kysar, a WSU Vancouver senior majoring in hospitality and business management, was a direct beneficiary of the campaign. Kysar was $1,000 short of becoming the first person in her immediate family to receive a bachelor’s degree, and thanks to the campaign funds in the form of the Last Chance Scholarship, she will graduate in December.

“I represent one of the many students that depend on scholarship support,” Kysar said.

As the largest fundraising campaign in WSU history came to a close, Gardner took the stage to close the ceremony.

“This is not the end of what we’re doing, this is just the beginning, that’s why I say it again, the most important day at WSU is tomorrow,” Gardner said.