Hotel bringing in bucks

Huron University College launched the public phase of its fundraising campaign on Monday, after having already achieved two-thirds of its goal.

“Touch the Future: The Campaign for Huron” has established a goal of $12.5 million, with $8.6 million already received during the quiet phase of the campaign.

Ramona Lumpkin, principal of Huron, noted the school is working to increase the amount of funding accessible to students.

“The campaign is focused on raising endowments […] [which] will support key activities in college admission such as scholarships and bursaries for students,” Lumpkin said.

According to Lumpkin, the previous campaign, which ended in 2002, raised $6.2 million.

“We are thrilled that the campaign target is going to be double of what we were able to raise [in the previous campaign],” she said.

Lumpkin added the college is confident it can reach the $12.5 million total.

Apart from scholarships and bursaries, funds acquired through the campaign will also support amenities such as academic chairs, the Silcox Memorial Library, faculty research, the chapel, volunteer services and community-based learning opportunities for students at Huron.

“It’s a capital campaign, which technically means money to build buildings. But in our case, we want to set up endowments, invest it and the return on those endowments will fund the College permanently,” Lumpkin said.

“Now that we are going public and promoting broadly to our alumni, we are thrilled,” Lumpkin added.

—Shreya Tekriwal