News and Events - Co-Chairs of
Campaign Maine Allen and Sally Fernald Aim to Make Friends for
UMaine As They Raise Money
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UMaine alums Allen and Sally Fernald
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University of Maine alumni Allen and Sally Fernald knew they'd
feel personally good about giving $1 million to their alma mater.
After all, they are immensely proud of the flagship University and
are committed to helping it continue to provide a first class
education for Maine students; function as a vibrant economic
engine for the state; and serve as a cultural center for the
region. But they weren't prepared for other people's reactions to
their generous gift when it was publicized last June both in state
and local newspapers and on UMaine websites.
"It's a rare day that somebody hasn't come up to me and
said ‘thank you for what you did for the University,'" says Allen,
a member of the Class of 1954 and chairman of Down East
Enterprise, publishers of Down East Magazine.
"In the first two or three weeks after our gift was
announced it wasn't unusual to have several people a day call us
or write us notes."
One resident approached her at the grocery store, Sally
recalls. "Thank you for giving such a generous gift to your
University and mine," the grateful woman told her.
The Camden couple has been loyal Black Bears over the
years, providing generous financial support and serving on a
multitude of boards and advisory groups. They are grateful to the
flagship University for providing them with the opportunity to
receive a quality education, make lasting friendships, and be
taught and mentored by caring professors who inspired them and
broadened their horizons.
"UMaine has always been very close to our hearts," says
Sally, who graduated in 1955. "We believe in the mission of the
University. It does a good job and needs money to attract and
retain excellent professors and students and to have programs of
excellence."
The Fernalds have yet to decide what initiative their gift
specifically will target. "We know we want to support the
University, its students, and its mission," says Allen. "Where it
ends up will be in areas we think have the most need."
Co-chairs of UMaine's Campaign Maine, which seeks to raise
$150 million by 2011, the Fernalds hope their gift has set an
example for others. Private support is more important than ever,
they point out, since the state provides only one third of
UMaine's funding.
"Meantime," says Allen, "we've got a wonderful campus that
has buildings that are historically and architecturally
significant but are not state-of-the-art for the 21st
century. Education has changed, labs have changed, student
expectations have changed. And in order for us to be fulfilling
the University's mission of teaching, research and service, we
have to be the best for Maine. The Campaign is pointed exactly at
that."
The couple says they are pleased to lead Campaign Maine --
the University's first capital campaign in a decade. "It feels
good to devote our time and energy doing something for this
University which is so important to the State of Maine and its
people," says Sally.
While they enjoy drumming up support for the University's
largest-ever capital campaign, the Fernalds try to begin
conversations with prospective donors by talking about the
exciting things happening on campus and the vital role UMaine
plays in the state. They often invite would-be donors to tour the
campus.
They note that the cutting edge research being done at
UMaine helps the economy by spinning off businesses and patents
and generating new jobs; that the Maine Center for the Arts
concert hall and museum is the cultural center for eastern,
central and northern Maine; and that the vast majority of
University graduates get their first job right here in Maine.
"Fundraising has to be friend raising," says Allen. "First
you have to generate interest in the University and give people a
reason to think it's worthwhile to even consider giving. I want
them to think first of all about telling students that this is a
good place to be."
He not only tells them - he shows them.
"Whenever a kid says to me that he or she is thinking of
college, I ask what their interests are. Then I say, ‘there's a
program at UMaine you might be interested in. Can I arrange an
interview or take you up there?'''
Allen has given tours of the University to many area young
people, introducing them to faculty, showing them laboratories and
other facilities, helping them schedule interviews with deans, and
letting them see first hand the exciting and innovative research
projects being worked on by UMaine undergraduate students with
their professors.
"Of the students I bring here, probably four out of five
decide to come to UMaine," says Allen. "They come away saying, ‘I
never realized how good the University is.''
Promoting UMaine is the responsibility of every graduate,
he says, but to do it effectively one must be familiar with the
campus. "You can't wait until your 50th reunion to come
back. The vast majority of alumni haven't been on campus since
they left. Their memory of the University is not what it is now,"
says Allen, referring to the plethora of new buildings, academic
programs, and research and development projects.
With the Campaign about to enter its third year, the pace
is stepping up and the Fernalds find themselves busier than ever.
There always are telephone calls to be made, meetings and events
to attend, University administrators to confer with, and
prospective donors to pursue, Allen says.
"President Bob Kennedy, [Vice President for Development]
Barbara Beers and we are in email contact almost every day."
Leading the Campaign affords them a wonderful opportunity
to be ambassadors for the University and its mission, the couple
agrees.
"Whenever I mention the capital campaign I say it's not a
campaign for UMaine," Allen says. "It's a campaign for the state."
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