The American University Board of Trustees on Sept. 5 voted to officially close the Change Can’t Wait campaign, according to an email from Chair of the Board Gina Adams. The announcement comes after the campaign surpassed its $500 million fundraising goal in July.
Adams described the campaign as the “most comprehensive fundraising effort in AU’s history,” citing the 24,000 alumni, 9,000 faculty and staff and 12,000 students and families who all contributed to the campaign. The campaign began planning in 2017 under former University President Sylvia Burwell, and officially launched in 2021.
The funding raised for the campaign aimed to tackle three key areas for the University’s advancement: focusing on how students thrive, discover and connect. With the funding raised, the University created or expanded upon over 180 scholarships to remove financial barriers for all students. In addition, the funding allocated $34 million for renovations on the Mary Graydon Center and for the construction of the new Student Thriving Complex’s Meltzer Center for Athletic Performance, which will be completed by the spring 2026 semester.
The University, under the campaign’s goal to advance discovery, created nine new faculty positions “spanning finance to neuroscience to peace studies to attract and retain prominent scholar-teachers.” The campaign also included the official creation or naming of four centers or institutes.
Adams also wrote that unrestricted gifts “increased threefold,” allowing for $120 million to be added to the University’s endowment.
AU will celebrate the end of the Change Can’t Wait campaign with a festival on Saturday, Sept. 28 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on the quad during family weekend.
“On behalf of the trustees, I share our deepest thanks to the entire American University community who made this once unthinkable feat possible,” Adams wrote. “Every person who supported and engaged with the campaign made a difference in its success.”
This article was edited by Tyler Davis and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks and Sydney Kornmeyer.
