Duke publicly announced its next major fundraising campaign Friday, three days ahead of its planned Monday launch date. Press releases published on University websites were removed Saturday afternoon following communication between The Chronicle and University administrators.
The campaign, dubbed “Made for This,” aims to prioritize funding and development across four main pillars: Duke Sciences and Technology, the Duke Climate Commitment, the undergraduate student experience and Duke Health. Duke administrators did not respond to The Chronicle’s request for comment on the campaign’s announcement timeline in time for publication.
The University intends to establish 175 new professorships and directorships across Duke’s 10 schools with the funds raised, as well as to “revitalize” 420,000 square feet of lab and classroom space. According to David Kennedy, vice president for alumni engagement and development, Duke is “defining success through how ... the University can make the world better, rather than focusing on dollars.”
“It’s about what we’re doing, not how much we’re raising,” he wrote in a Saturday email to The Chronicle.
A campaign announcement was released on Giving to Duke and linked on Duke Today as early as Friday, with the page active through at least 4:45 p.m. Saturday. The website featuring the announcement was removed from the Giving to Duke page by 5:22 p.m. but can be viewed on the Wayback Machine Internet Archive. Photos from a private kick-off event at the Karsh Alumni and Visitors Center were also shared on @dukealumni’s Instagram story with the caption “#madeforthis.”
The campaign website was active at the time of publication. Duke republished the press releases later Saturday evening.
“Made for This” is Duke’s first major fundraising campaign since “Duke Forward,” which ran from 2010 to 2017. The public launch was initially scheduled for the morning of Feb. 24, and the Board of Trustees approved the campaign during its December meeting.
While the University celebrated the Centennial throughout 2024 — including through such high-profile events as an Ed Sheeran concert — Duke made no significant push to fundraise around the event.
“As we formally transition from our Centennial celebration to the work of the next 100 years, we’re using our history to propel a bold new century of impact through transformative teaching, pathbreaking scholarship and lifesaving health care,” President Vincent Price said in the since-removed announcement.
“Made for This” is the University’s first major fundraising effort in nearly a decade. It follows Brodhead’s $3.85 billion “Duke Forward” campaign and President Emerita Nannerl Keohane’s $2.36 billion “Campaign for Duke,” which, at the time, marked the fifth-largest in the history of American higher education.
The announcement claims that “[f]or the first time in Duke’s campaign history,” the University seeks to “mobilize the entire Duke community” around the campaign through not just philanthropy, but also “volunteerism and expertise.”
The new campaign will be overseen by a council of prominent alumni, including Grant Hill, Trinity ‘94; Chris Kempczinski, Trinity ‘91; Laurene Sperling, Trinity ‘78; Jeff Ubben, Trinity ‘83; and Alyssa Fanelli Varadhan, Pratt ‘02.
Multiple Duke affiliates posted about the campaign on their personal LinkedIn accounts following the kick-off event, which featured Price, Provost Alec Gallimore and Board Chair Adam Silver alongside the campaign’s five-person leadership council. One LinkedIn post noted that alumni, students and faculty were in attendance.
Editor's note: This article was updated at 10:19 p.m. Saturday to note that Duke republished the press releases on its websites.
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Michael Austin is a Trinity junior and managing editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.
Zoe Kolenovsky is a Trinity junior and news editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.
Abby Spiller is a Trinity junior and editor-in-chief of The Chronicle's 120th volume.