Hundreds of alumni, friends, and benefactors came together at Dalhousie’s Student Union Building in Halifax Tuesday (April 2) to celebrate the launch of Bringing Worlds Together, the university’s new $750-million fundraising campaign.
The energy in the room was palpable as Dal President Kim Brooks shared the vision for the largest fundraising initiative ever among Atlantic Canadian universities. She said it will start with extraordinary partnerships and end with extraordinary solutions. But to change the world, she added, we cannot be worlds apart.
“Our ambition for this campaign is to share our capacity and talent with the world in a way that profoundly shapes it,” Dr. Brooks said. “This isn’t about making Dalhousie better; this is about coming together to bring about a more just and equitable future. It’s about making the world better. And it starts here in Nova Scotia.”
Learn more: dal.ca/worlds-together
Dr. Brooks said Dal is making progress toward that future, with nearly half of the campaign’s fundraising goal already raised — an announcement made to literal fireworks and thunderous applause. That achievement exceeds the total amount raised through Bold Ambitions, the university’s last major comprehensive fundraising campaign which wrapped up in 2013.
Big plans, big impact
Supported by Bringing Worlds Together, Dalhousie will invest in enhanced and new programs, supports, and facilities with far-reaching impacts.
For example, the university plans to create more scholarships to ensure that every qualified student has the financial support they need for a Dalhousie education. It will launch Dalhousie’s Biomanufacturing Bridge, a specialized, small-scale facility that will turn medical breakthroughs into new treatments that change patients’ lives.
And there are plans for a new community clinic that will expand access to the oral care, legal, and social work services that are available to underserved populations in Nova Scotia through Dal’s existing clinics.
“Our ambitions for this campaign are to vault us even further ahead in the areas where our impact has the potential to grow exponentially and profoundly change the world,” said Dr. Brooks.
A hub for change
Bringing Worlds Together builds on the success and growth that Dalhousie is experiencing. As the region’s largest research-intensive university, Dal engages partners locally and beyond in research and projects that tackle major issues and seize opportunities. Dr. Brooks said that has made the university a vital hub for collaboration. It has also enabled Dal to have an impact in areas such as ocean sustainability, improving health outcomes, food security, and climate change, earning widespread recognition for the solutions it has developed.
“For more than 200 years, our extraordinary community of alumni, donors, and partners have enabled Dalhousie to do the extraordinary — to become a national university with global impact,” she said.
With Bringing Worlds Together, Dr. Brooks said Dalhousie is taking that to a whole new level. The campaign’s three pillars highlight how the university will make good on this commitment.
- “Inspiring Future-Ready Leaders” creates clear paths for students to succeed.
- “Engaging in High-Impact Research” tackles some of the most complex issues facing humankind.
- And “Lifting Our Communities” will lead to more clinics, programs, and outreach efforts that help strengthen communities across Nova Scotia and beyond.
“Dalhousie is a place where worlds come together,” said Dr. Brooks. “Where scholarly excellence meets hands-on learning experiences. Where students get to know world-leading researchers in their classes. And where groundbreaking research is helping us achieve a better and more sustainable future that leaves no one behind.”
A major endorsement
The vision behind Bringing Worlds Together was endorsed at the event by special guests Fred and Elizabeth Fountain. Longstanding supporters of Dalhousie, the Fountains are serving as honorary campaign co-chairs with the Honourable A. Anne McLellan
“We support Dalhousie because we believe Nova Scotia needs the best possible university it can be — but we also see that the world needs that too,” said Fred Fountain, who, like McLellan, is both a Law alum and past university chancellor. “Supported by partnerships and the power of philanthropy, Dalhousie has had a significant impact through the learning it delivers, the research it conducts, and the solutions it develops by working with our communities. Bringing Worlds Together is going to build on this legacy.”
Dr. Brooks, left, with Fred and Elizabeth Fountain.
“This campaign has the potential to take Dalhousie to the next level in ways that will create lasting positive change for the planet, and we’re enthusiastic to be a part of it,” said Elizabeth Fountain. “We believe it represents the best possible opportunity we have, as a society, to find solutions to the pressing challenges we face and to do it on a timeline and a scale that makes a difference both now and for future generations.”
Bringing the world on board
Having made history with the announcement of Bringing Worlds Together, Dr. Brooks and Dalhousie are focused on what’s next. With nearly half of the campaign goal raised, there is considerable momentum to raise the other half.
The university is ready to capitalize on that with upcoming launch events in Truro, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary. Dr. Brooks said she is looking forward to sharing details about the campaign with alumni, partners, and donors across Nova Scotia and the country and inviting them to support Dalhousie’s efforts to rise to the most pressing challenges facing society.
“That’s why we are Bringing Worlds Together,” she said. “We are seeking partners who want to drive meaningful and lasting change that leaves no one behind, who want to accelerate talent and create impact with distinction, and who know that community matters. We can make a better world. And we can do it when we Bring Worlds Together.”
To explore how you can help bring worlds together, please visit dal.ca/worlds-together.
