During its centennial year, the University has hit a new record in donor support of students and academic programs. 

The University has received approximately $11 million in new gifts, pledges and planned gift commitments, according to murraystate.edu. 

Executive Director of Development Tina Bernot said the continued support from donors keeps the University running. 

“We rely on revenue from tuition [and] state funding to make up our budget, so anything donors give  above and beyond helps us do incredible things for programs,” Bernot said. 

Bernot said donor support is important to ensuring all students get access to education and quality programs. 

“Student debt is a hot topic across the country right now, and every scholarship dollar we bring in the office is $1 less tht a student has to come up with or their family has to come up with.”

Donors have designated $4.7 million has been designated to fund scholarships, which is often geared toward certain specific programs, colleges and students. 

“[Donors] think about their story and the type of students they want to help because of the story they lived, so they set up new scholarship funds all the time to reflect that,” Bernot said.

Donors have designated $2.4 million was designated to support academic programs across campus. 

Bernot said these donations are important because they are donor centered. 

“We try to create lifelong relationships versus just a transactional relationship where it’s one gift or two gifts over time,” Bernot said.“We want donors to give throughout their whole lives. In order to do that, we try to determine where they want to focus their philanthropy and where they want to make a difference, so we guide their support in that area to certain projects once we identify where they want to help.” 

This year, Karon Jones Squires and her husband Jim Squires made the largest gift in the University’s history. 

The gift was made to the Jesse D. Jones College of Science, Technology and Engineering to  provide students with full-ride scholarships. 

Jones Squires is an alumna of Murray State and is the daughter of a former professor who taught in the college. 

 “It’s very important to her to continue her dad’s legacy of creating new engineers, and it’s also important to her to give women that same opportunity and to help encourage them to be a part of that field,” Bernot said. “She designated it to support her dad’s scholarship fund and then to create full-ride scholarships with a preference for women students. That’s just program changing.” 

President Bob Jackson said he is grateful for the support from alumni and friends of the University. 

“We could not provide the current record levels of scholarships and financial aid to our students without our generous supporters,” Jackson said. “We have the best alumni and donor base a university could imagine, and it started 100 years ago as Murray State was being envisioned and our donors stepped forward with $116,000 to make this special place a reality.”

A number of special projects, including the new National Pan-Hellenic Council Brick Plaza has led to an increase in first-time donors supporting causes important to them. 

Bernot said these special projects reinforce donors’ love for the University. 

“It was a great opportunity for us to be able to reconnect them to do something great for our current students and future students,” Bernot said. “Then to connect those new donors to campus, so those types of projects are very successful right now.”

To make a gift to the University, visit murraystate.edu/giving or call the Office of Development at 270-809-3001.