Message from the President


The theme of the Radford University Capital Campaign has also become our school motto: Investing in Lifetimes.

It is an appropriate and carefully chosen phrase, because it reflects our commitment to positively influencing the lives of students and quality of life for citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Our students, faculty and staff dedicate their energy and expertise to making a difference in the lives of many.

In the final year of our Campaign, the continued support of alumni and friends of the university can enable us to achieve our campaign goal of $22 million. If we accomplish this task by our December 1, 1999 deadline, we will also receive a $500,000 Kresge Foundation Challenge Grant. Every gift counts toward the challenge and every contribution to the campaign ensures that current and future generations of students will receive an opportunity to pursue their educational dreams at our university.

Financial support for a student scholarship or academic program is indeed a sound investment. In 1998, state officials announced that the institution had earned distinction as one of the top three performers in a special evaluation of institutional effectiveness among the Commonwealth of Virginia’s 15 public colleges and universities.

The university is ranked by U.S. News and World Report among the top 25 percent of comprehensive colleges and universities in the South. An increase in the number of alumni who annually support the university can help Radford move even higher in the rankings.

Radford is one of the most affordable public institutions in Virginia and has the highest percentage of its budget directed toward instruction. Private support will help our students to continue to benefit from small classes taught by full-time faculty.

Almost 50 percent of Radford alumni have made a contribution in the past. If 50 percent of alumni contributed $50 each year, an additional $1 million would be available annually to assist needy and deserving students.

An investment in RU is an investment in every graduate, past, present and future, because as Radford’s reputation grows, so does the value of a Radford degree.

Please join us in making that investment.


Douglas Covington, Ph.D.