By Judith L. Rhoads

We are lucky to live in a very generous community. The people within the college's service area have long supported "their" college. The results of our first major gifts campaign are evidence of their generosity and their commitment to education. With our first campaign we were able to leverage the construction of two new facilities, the Joe C. Davis Science & Technology Building and the Muhlenberg County classroom facility.

Last year we began our second major gifts campaign, entitled "Fulfilling the Promise," and already we have obtained $1.7 million in gifts and pledges. We are off to a wonderful start. I am particularly proud of the commitment our faculty and staff have made to the campaign, totaling over $95,000 in gifts and pledges. That is among the most successful internal campaigns in the KCTCS.

"Fulfilling the Promise" focuses on strengthening our endowments. Why? Because well managed endowment income will enable us to continue to support high quality programming. Endowment income enables us to support such things as faculty development, fine arts programming, use of up-to-date instructional technology, and program development.

Perhaps most importantly, however, endowment income enables us to support scholarships. It enables us to extend opportunity to those students who have the ability, but not the financial wherewithal, to attend MCC. That is a wonderful legacy for any donor. I am particularly excited about our School Counts initiative.

According to the US Census 2000, the college-going rate of Kentuckians is not high. School Counts can help us reverse this trend. The School Counts initiative will guarantee that high school graduates in our area who meet certain performance criteria receive significant financial assistance to continue their education at the postsecondary level.

The "Fulfilling the Promise" campaign is one of permanence--and our students will be better served as a result of it. We are truly making a difference in western Kentucky.