Bemidji State University President Dr. Richard A. Hanson illustrated how the Imagine Tomorrow campaign has impacted the university’s ability to provide scholarships for students during BSU’s annual Lakeside Luncheon.

Hanson presented his “State of the University” presentation during the luncheon, held in Bemidji’s Sanford Center, and explained how scholarship funding at BSU has nearly doubled, from about $700,000 in fiscal year 2011 to almost $1.3 million this year as a result of the Imagine Tomorrow Campaign. That total is expected to continue increasing as the campaign, which to date has raised nearly $33 million, progresses toward its $35 million goal.

BSU students Trevor Beniak and Chelsea Borwege also spoke at the luncheon. Beniak, a senior in art & design and design technology, and Borwege, a senior in clinical laboratory science, both spoke of the quality of their educations at BSU and the opportunities that education will afford them in their futures. Both also spoke of the importance scholarship programs played in their ability to successfully pursue their educations.

The campaign also is having its intended impact on academic programs. For example, in the visual and performing arts, a $160,000 endowment has been created to fund travel for music students, and another $500,000 gift will create a BSU gallery within Bemidji’s new Watermark Art Center, which is scheduled to open in the next few years.

“Everything we do – all the money we raise, the people we hire and our multiplying community partnerships – can ultimately be traced back to that overarching goal: our fundamental commitment to the success of our students,” Hanson said.

Strong external support is a factor in these successes.

The BSU Foundation today announced that an anonymous alumni donor is challenging friends and alumni with a $50,000 matching gift to the Lakeside Fund, doubling the impact of each donor’s gift to the fund before June 30. The Lakeside Fund supports the greatest needs of the university on an annual basis. It supports the student scholarships and academic programs that have made BSU one of the Midwest region’s top universities.

The challenge applies a one-to-one match to all Lakeside Fund gifts made before June 30, 2015, up to a total of $50,000. There is no minimum or maximum; all gifts will be matched. Fulfillments of previously committed pledges do not count toward the challenge, and matching corporate or foundation gifts are not eligible.

More information on the matching gift challenge is available from BSU Director of Annual Giving Lisa Hofstad. Gifts can also be made at bsualumni.org.

Contact
• Lisa Hofstad, director of annual giving, BSU Foundation
• Maryhelen Chadwick, communications & marketing specialist, BSU Alumni & Foundation