Get Ready, Get Set ...

Lehigh has kicked off its new comprehensive campaign, the largest in its history, with one of the largest gifts in its history.

While formally launching GO: The Campaign for Lehigh—a $1 billion-plus fundraising and engagement initiative that will provide Lehigh with the resources it needs to grow into a more impactful, powerful and accessible university—President John D. Simon and the Lehigh Board of Trustees also announced that Lehigh Board Chair Kevin L. Clayton ’84 ’13P and Lisa A. Clayton ’13P, both longtime beneficiaries of the university, would make a $20 million donation to kick-start the planned renovation and expansion of the historic University Center, one of the campaign’s top priorities.

“Lisa and I feel that supporting this project will benefit students for generations to come,” Clayton said. “It’s going to touch every future student, every faculty member and every staff member for the next 100 years. Every member of the Lehigh community will go through that University Center. The students will learn there, eat there, become friends there. That’s meaningful.”

In all, the campaign comprises more than 200 fundraising initiatives, with a particular focus on university-wide priorities that figure to shape the Lehigh of the future. Those key priorities include financial aid and student success programs; the planned new College of Health; the development of the Bridge West student living facility; the renovation and expansion of the University Center; the implementation of a series of interdisciplinary research institutes; and the construction of the Health, Science and Technology Building, the most expansive new academic and research building to be built at Lehigh in more than a decade.

In a joint statement announcing the campaign, Simon and Clayton said the university was “ready for this moment.”

“With top priorities around scholarships, academic and experiential learning programs, and research and distinction across all colleges and disciplines, this campaign will fuel the next great age of Lehigh University,” they said. “Together, we will ensure Lehigh will continue to deliver a transformational education to the most talented students and drive innovation and research that will change our world.”

GO: The Campaign for Lehigh is the first comprehensive fundraising campaign at Lehigh since the conclusion of the Shine Forever Campaign. That effort, which raised $508 million, launched in 2004 and concluded in 2010. Priorities for that campaign included academic programs, endowed scholarships and professorships, improvements to student life and more.

Now, building on the success of that effort as well as the momentum created by the implementation of the Path to Prominence plan, Simon believes Lehigh is ready to join the list of prestigious institutions that have launched and completed campaigns of $1 billion or more.

“From the moment I arrived here at Lehigh four years ago, I saw the great potential in this university,” Simon said. “My confidence in Lehigh has only grown since, and as we move forward on this campaign, I know that everyone in the university community will continue to do their part to help us achieve all of the goals of this most ambitious of campaigns.”

A successful run for GO: The Campaign for Lehigh will enable the university to recruit and support the most talented students from around the world, regardless of their financial background—a crucially important initiative that comes as it strives to diversify its student body and create a better pathway to South Mountain. It will propel Lehigh forward in academics and research, broadening the university’s impact in key growth sectors and allowing it to become a force for change in the world of health care. And it will bring new vitality and excitement to campus, with planned building projects supporting teaching, research and student life.

The campaign will also support dozens of additional initiatives housed within each of the university’s four existing colleges, the Department of Athletics, the Office of International Affairs, Lehigh’s West Coast initiatives and more. Additionally, the campaign aims to strengthen the connection between its alumni and the university.

“This is a truly comprehensive campaign—one that will support and advance every aspect of our university,” Simon said. “We already stand proudly as one of the finest universities in the country, and our success in this campaign will only propel us forward into an even brighter future.”

The campaign will be chaired by four distinguished alums—Maria L. Chrin ’87 ’10P, Jordan Hitch ’88 ’20P ’21P, James R. Maida ’85 ’17P ’19P and Mark R. Yeager ’81—with support from four additional honorary chairs: Murray H. Goodman ’48, Lee A. Iacocca ’45, Joseph R. Perella ’64 and Daniel E. Smith Jr. ’71.