Campaign Background

Mississippi State University launched State of the Future: The Mississippi State Campaign in October 2004 by announcing it was at the halfway mark, raising more than $200 million in private gifts toward a $400 million goal.

The “silent“ phase of the comprehensive campaign began July 1, 2001, as a volunteer steering committee began to seek large, leadership-level gifts.

The State of the Future theme was selected because it conveyed to the campus community, as well as to alumni and friends of the institution, the progress Mississippi State hopes to achieve through the effort. Sacky Holdiness, a Meridian grandmother and then-doctoral student in counselor education, was the winner of the university-wide theme contest.

State of the Future goals centered around four key areas -endowed scholarships and fellowships, endowed faculty positions, new and renovated facilities, and campus enhancements. Annual gifts also counted in the campaign which concluded in December 2008 with more than $462 million raised.

Campaign Steering Committee