Goal:
$26.5 M
Current Donations:
$15,815,582.00
Why This Campaign Is Needed
William Carey University could stay where it is and be productive and effective with the resources that God has already provided.
Complacency, however, carries significant risk.
We could easily lose the momentum that we’ve been building. We believe a major fundraising effort is necessary step to leverage God’s favor on our university and build on the recent success of our institution. William Carey University has always been faithful, but now it is emerging as a major influence in South Mississippi like never before.
The boost that comes with a fundraising campaign will position the university for growth and expansion for years to come
What It Will Cost
Academic Affordability
University Life
Tradition Campus Housing & Dining
Hattiesburg Dining
Program Excellence
Thomas Hall
Lawrence Hall
Tennis Complex
Baseball/Softball Fieldhouse
The Carey Fund
$10M
$7M
$5M
$2M
$8M
$1.5M
$3.5M
$1.8M
$1.2M
$1.5M
Total Campaign Goal
$26.5M
The Time Is Now
Now is the time for friends of William Carey University to invest in its future.
Now is the time for these projects to go forward, as we build on a surge of momentum over the last five years.
Energy and enthusiasm are high, and William Carey is certainly performing well, but the needs are urgent. We could easily lose the momentum that we've worked so hard to establish - or we could continue building and take William Carey University to another level of service, excellence, and influence. This campaign is a step in that direction.
In what is quite possibly his most famous quote, William Carey once said, "Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God." This campaign is our attempt to do exactly that. We know that $26.5 million is a lofty goal. But let us never say that we failed to dream big about what God can do through William Carey University. We want to do great things for God. And we trust and expect that God will raise up people like you to do great things of their own by partnering with us in our mission.
Will you join us? Your investment in William Carey University creates our future. Let’s attempt great things, together, and watch in expectation to see what great things God will do in response through our prayers, our diligence, and our faithfulness.
Dr. Ben Burnett
President
Academic
Affordability
ENDOWMENT
A university’s endowment is a collection of assets that is invested to produce an annual return in perpetuity. Though William Carey’s endowment has grown considerably over the past decade, it still stands at just $37 million, which is substantially less than competitive institutions of similar age and size. In today’s economic environment and culture, we must make significant gains in growing our endowment and launching new scholarships that can be deployed immediately. Our endowment goals through this campaign are threefold:
Unrestricted Endowment
Delivering an outstanding yet affordable education at a private, Christian university is a costly endeavor, but William Carey University is committed to this mission. Boosting the unrestricted endowment will allow us to keep our tuition competitively low and continue to provide free textbooks for our undergraduate students. A significant increase in our unrestricted endowment would be a vital help for us as we seek to build on our success and take our institution to the next level.
Scholarship Endowment
When William Carey’s scholarship endowment grows, every bit of that support helps students by providing a Christian education to those who otherwise might not be able to afford one, particularly middle-income families who do not qualify for federal grants. The scholarship endowment supports academic, athletic, ministry, and talent scholarships that help recruit and retain students who are skilled in their fields and aligned with William Carey’s mission.
Faculty Endowment
In addition to the unrestricted endowment, we would like to endow faculty positions in order to recruit highly qualified professors who will invest heavily in our students. An endowed chair is a faculty position that is privately funded with a gift that generates enough interest to supply a salary for the professor in perpetuity, thus taking pressure off the operating budget.
University Life
Through the Lord's providence, the main William Carey campus in Hattiesburg is in outstanding condition, following a 2017 tornado that caused massive destruction.
Likewise, our Biloxi campus is in good shape after we rebuilt it in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
But still, with the recent growth of the University, we do have some pressing physical needs that, if addressed, would make William Carey even more attractive to prospective students and generate energy and excitement on campus.
CONSTRUCT HOUSING, DINING, & STUDENT LIFE SPACE IN BILOXI
Our Tradition campus in Biloxi desperately needs space for student life. The campus houses our pharmacy school and other programs at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. While the campus itself is brand new, it doesn’t offer any dining or housing options. The coastal area of Mississippi is a highly populated region that is a large recruiting base for William Carey. Offering student life, housing, and dining space on the Biloxi campus would allow us to attract more students from that population center – while also better serving our current students – and give them a place where they can more conveniently pursue their studies.
RENOVATE THE CAMPUS DINING HALL IN HATTIESBURG
The dining hall in Hattiesburg is one of the older buildings on campus, and it’s one of the few buildings that we did not lose in the 2017 tornado or renovate immediately afterward. The out-of-date facility needs a complete renovation that will match the rest of the recent campus upgrades, provide more space, and give our students a more aesthetically pleasing dining experience. The dining hall will accommodate 800 students, faculty, and staff after it is finished.
Program Excellence
EXPAND OUR TENNIS FACILITY
Our men’s tennis team won the conference championship this year, and both our men’s and women’s teams are regularly ranked in the top 10 nationally. This project would provide a new facility for tennis locker rooms that we currently do not have, as well as a viewing area.
BASEBALL/SOFTBALL FIELD HOUSE
Our baseball team closed their 2023 season by placing in the top 4 of the 2023 NAIA World Series and our softball team finished their 2023 season with eight total All-Conference players. The Bobby Halford Fieldhouse will provide a f irst-time facility that will feature locker rooms and an equipment room.
RENOVATE THE PERFORMANCE AUDITORIUM AND PRACTICE ROOMS
William Carey’s music program is one of our cornerstones. We have almost 250 music education students and more than 20 performance groups, including an orchestra, worship choir, and multiple bands, among others. The auditorium in Thomas Hall is outdated and was never fully updated when we repaired the building following the 2017 tornado. This project would enhance the performance hall by providing new seating, acoustic tiles, and a new projector system, among other improvements, in addition to a renovation of practice rooms – giving us a facility that matches the quality of our music programs and students.
Carey Fund
While funding of endowed scholarships is certainly a pressing need, a strong endowment also needs a healthy supply of unrestricted gifts.
Unrestricted donations can be used at the discretion of university administrators, providing the institution with greater flexibility to use funds where they are needed the most.
Unrestricted gifts provide ongoing resources to support the mission and work of William Carey University.
How to achieve this goal
Projected Gifts Required
$26.5M Campaign Assumes A 3-Year Pledge Period
This campaign will depend on the support, prayers, and generosity of the entire William Carey Community, including those who are prepared to step forward with leadership gifts, not only from current income, but also from stored assets.
While we firmly believe the Lord can provide these necessary resources in any way of His choosing, history and experience tell us that it will require alumni and friends to make commitments along these lines.
