{"id":25314,"date":"2021-09-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.tarleton.edu\/news\/tarleton-state-breaks-fundraising-records\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T15:48:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T20:48:03","slug":"tarleton-state-breaks-fundraising-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/tarleton-state-breaks-fundraising-records\/","title":{"rendered":"Tarleton State Breaks Fundraising Records"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br \/>\nWednesday, September 1, 2021<\/p>\n<p>STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Tarleton State University set numerous fundraising records and generated more than $14 million in private gifts in fiscal 2021, creating scholarships and endowments to support the student experience, promote faculty excellence and increase research.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are fortunate to have the most loyal friends and family in the nation, and we are profoundly grateful for their generosity. But more impressive than the dollars is the impact,\u201d said Tarleton President James Hurley. \u201cAmong the many benefits, our students receive crucial financial assistance, and we can enhance academic programming and discovery. Every gift matters, and every gift is appreciated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eY4-s5708uc\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Fiscal 2021 donations included the most cash \u2014 $11.3 million \u2014 received in a single year, up 91 percent from the previous record of $5.9 million. The record eclipses the university\u2019s average of $4.3 million for the previous five fiscal years. And the number of donors reached an all-time high of 2,700, compared to an average 2,101 over the past decade.<\/p>\n<p>While Tarleton receives state funding, the school relies on private support to fully develop academic and athletic programs, recruit students and faculty, provide scholarships, and construct and update campus facilities.<\/p>\n<p>Private funding comes from alumni and friends who donate directly to the school or through Tarleton State University Foundation Inc. Created almost 43 years ago, the foundation provides financial support via earnings on endowed funds, gifts and property. It acts independently of the university and The Texas A&amp;M University System solely for the benefit of students who otherwise might not earn a degree.<\/p>\n<p>Since 1979, private funding to the foundation has averaged just over $547,000 annually, with a fiscal 2020 portfolio value of $23 million. This year foundation funding increased more than $7 million for an all-time high portfolio value exceeding $30 million.<\/p>\n<p>Retired Air Force Col. Charles Leigon, a Tarleton alumnus, decided years ago that he wanted his legacy to include helping nursing students with a cash gift directly to the university. That legacy became a reality in fiscal 2021, when Tarleton received $1.5 million (the third largest cash donation in university history at the time) \u2014 from his estate. This year\u2019s gift is in addition to property donations, valued around $500,000, made in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>University benefactors Joe R. and Dr. Teresa Lozano Long donated $2 million in fiscal 2021 to the Tarleton Foundation to assist under-represented students. In addition to scholarships, the Longs\u2019 gift supports study abroad and research.<\/p>\n<p>Like many Tarleton donors, the Longs have given liberally over the years, starting with $1 million to establish an endowed scholarship for students in the College of Education, College of Liberal and Fine Arts, and College of Science and Technology.<\/p>\n<p>Loyal donors Dr. Lamar and Marilynn Johanson created the Timberlake Biological Field Station Endowment in fiscal 2021, providing student stipends as well as travel for students to present research findings at national scientific conferences. A second endowment \u2014 the Lamar and Marilynn T. Johanson Biological Sciences Scholarship Endowment \u2014 continues the couple\u2019s broad support of academic and athletic programs, providing scholarships to biomedical science and biology majors.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Johanson retired from Tarleton in 2001 after 40 years of service, including 18 as Dean of the former College of Arts and Sciences.<\/p>\n<p>Also created in fiscal 2021 were the Pam and Mark Littleton Enrichment Endowment for Mathematics Education, the Pam and Mark Littleton Volleyball Scholarship, and the Jimmy J. McCoy Physics Scholarship. The namesakes are retired Tarleton faculty.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to endowed scholarships, Tarleton relies on donations made as part of the university\u2019s annual Giving Day. More than 740 donors, another record, gave $301,461 this year. Since the 24-hour online fundraising challenge started four years ago, university alumni, employees and students have given more than $1.56 million to Tarleton colleges, programs, scholarships and activities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe more we become a first-choice destination for students in North Texas, the more critical our friends and family are to our success,\u201d Dr. Hurley said. \u201cThis is truly a symbiotic relationship of the very best kind \u2014 and everybody gains.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Contact: Cecilia Jacobs<br \/>\n254-968-1620<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:priddle@tarleton.edu\">cjacobs@tarleton.edu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, September 1, 2021 STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Tarleton State University set numerous fundraising records and generated more than $14 million in private gifts in fiscal 2021, creating &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":49676,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[423,425,427],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics-research","category-campus-community","category-science-health"],"acf":{"image":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"keegan","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/keegan-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2023\/10\/Spring-Flowers-Admin-Gates_7545-300x200.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/category\/academics-research\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Academics &amp; Research<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/category\/campus-community\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Campus &amp; Community<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/category\/science-health\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Science &amp; Health<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Academics &amp; Research<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Campus &amp; Community<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Science &amp; Health<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 5 years ago","modified":"Updated 7 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on September 1, 2021","modified":"Updated on September 22, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on September 1, 2021 12:00 am","modified":"Updated on September 22, 2025 3:48 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"Tarleton State University entrance with flags and flowers.","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25314"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53765,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25314\/revisions\/53765"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}