Averett Celebrates Success of its First Comprehensive Capital Campaign

Posted on April 23rd, 2015 by Emily Tomlinson

On Thursday, April 23, Averett University announced the success of its first comprehensive capital campaign. The campaign started July 1, 2010 and will officially end June 30, 2015. Our goal at the start of the campaign was to raise $25 million — and we have exceeded that goal with a total of $28,217,627 as of March 31.

“What a momentous day this is in the life of Averett University,” said Averett President Dr. Tiffany Franks. “We are grateful and excited to share that we have surpassed our goal for Averett’s first comprehensive campaign! This is an achievement we could not have realized without our generous donors, and on behalf of the University I want to thank all of you for what you’ve helped us accomplish that will positively impact the lives of our students today and for years to come.”

Over the last five years Averett has raised money for a variety of projects that benefit not only our students, faculty and staff but also Danville and the surrounding region. Following is the list of projects that have been completed or will be underway later this year:

  • Schoolfield House Booksellers located on West Main Street, which serves our campus and community
  • Enhanced theatre and event space in the Violet T. Frith Fine Arts Center
  • $4.9 million in new annual and endowed scholarships for our students
  • Combined all our student services into one-stop shop in Averett Central and have combined our Honors Program, 24/7 computer labs, Writing Center and tutoring into the Galesi Family Student Success Center
  • Newly renovated Academic Commons space in the library
  • The Frank Fulton Sr. Indoor Batting Facility, that despite our rainy spring, helped our Women’s Softball Team achieve 13th place in the nation
  • Redbird Full Motion Simulator for our aviation students, which simulates live air traffic control and several different planes
  • Retrofitted 16 classrooms on our Main and North campuses with new technology as state-of-the-art learning centers, upgraded one chemistry and three biology labs with new equipment, instituted the largest Sim family and technology for nursing education; May 4 will begin renovations on the old gym on Main Campus for intramural sports and events, it will be renamed the Carrington Gym
  • Launched new academic programs in nursing, accounting, special education, criminal justice and more — in response to the needs of our region, employers and our students
  • Established a full range of Autism programs including interdisciplinary courses in equestrian, psychology, special education and an autism certificate program. Created the Carrington Autism Resource Center and lending library of resources for our community and provided inclusion training to area schools and teachers
  • Launched the Center for Community Engagement and Career Competitiveness – which just this past week, conducted a region-wide Week to Engage with more than 400 participants serving almost 1,000 hours in volunteer service. The Center will provide all undergraduate students at Averett with an experiential learning opportunity prior to graduation through a variety of ways: an internship, research project, travel study, or help to revitalize our community. Regardless of what and where, each student’s experience will occur outside of the traditional classroom.
  • Installed new synthetic turf and lights at the Daly Field, and we will break ground on the Frank R. Campbell Sports Stadium after our Fall 2015 football and soccer seasons having now fully met our fundraising goal