Campaign for Mississippi State tops $76 million with three years left

James K. Ashford, national general chairman of the campaign, announced the updated total at a luncheon of campaign contributors and volunteers.

"Even though we are approaching the campaign goal, much more can be accomplished," Ashford said. "Many hundreds of people across our state and country still are contemplating their commitments. The amount in potential contributions still to come from prospective donors is astounding."

The Campaign for Mississippi State: To Serve Mississippi . . . and Beyond, seeks private support for scholarships and financial aid, faculty development, educational program enhancement, the library, buildings and classrooms, and the university's unrestricted endowment.

The commitments totaling $76.1 million received by April 29 included about $21 million in cash already received, about $23 million pledged over the next five years, and about $32 million in the form of deferred gifts, such as bequests, to be received at some point in the future. The campaign is scheduled to continue to mid-1997.

Also announced were the initial results of the on-campus part of the campaign. Ashford said university faculty and staff had committed about $300,000 to the effort since the University Phase got under way in April, with a majority of faculty and staff responses yet to be collected.

"We're immensely proud of what our faculty and staff are doing," said President Donald Zacharias. "They are demonstrating with their own hard-earned money that they believe in what this university stands for and what it is accomplishing for Mississippi and the country."