Dear Friends,
I hope you are staying safe and well during these unprecedented and challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since our campus was closed on March 13th, the COFA development team has been working hard—albeit from our homes—to continue reaching out to our alumni and friends to check on their well-being and to continue conversations regarding their philanthropy to support our academic mission.
Due to the amazing loyalty and dedication of the Longhorn Nation and our COFA friends, we have been able to help the university raise over $1.3 million for UT’s Student Emergency Fund. In addition, fundraising for the college has increased by $500,000 during the past two months. We have surpassed our fundraising goal of $15 million for this fiscal year and are on track for even more donations. For all these gifts, we are extremely grateful.
Our college continues to look to the future even as we manage this extended “intermission” of our daily lives and routines. And the future looks bright. Our freshman enrollment numbers are higher than ever for fall 2020, and our faculty is more versatile than ever in adapting to both online and non-traditional teaching options through the use of technology. When the COVID-19 threat subsides, our college will have accrued a larger variety of teaching methodologies and tools to creatively deliver our curricula both in person and online.
My thanks to everyone on the Advisory Council who has offered financial support to our students, sent encouraging notes and emails, and attended our virtual gatherings via Zoom. We appreciate your participation across the spectrum of opportunities to keep involved in our college.
This pandemic will eventually pass. In the meantime, we continue to view the current challenges not as obstacles, but as opportunities to explore new ways to make our college operate even better and smarter.
We are all in this together, and we greatly appreciate all that you do as our friends, advocates, and donors.
Please take care and stay safe.
Sondra Lomax
Executive Director and Associate Dean for Development
