University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Chapel transformed as 500 guests celebrate first $1 billion of “Chicago Initiative”
April 23, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The University of Chicago celebrated surpassing the first $1 billion of its $2 billion fundraising campaign with a day of special activities April 23, including a first-ever transformation of the 75-year-old Rockefeller Memorial Chapel into a festive dining hall for more than 500 guests, including David Rockefeller, former Senator Adlai Stevenson III, and philanthropists King Harris, Gerald Ratner, and Leo Melamed. The event, titled “Chicago Convenes,” recognized the generosity of University alumni, friends, and corporations and foundations.
President Don Michael Randel, Chairman of the University’s Board of Trustees James Crown, and Vice Chair Andrew Alper inducted 107 new members into the Harper Society Founders Circle for those who have made cumulative gifts totaling $1 million or more to the University. Founders Circle members were presented with a bronze statue of the University’s first president, William Rainey Harper, for whom the society is named.
“Chicago Convenes is a great way to celebrate the $1 billion milestone and to capture what the University is all about,” said Alper. “People supporting all different areas of the University have been recognized for their generosity and this evening says a lot about what this institution means to each of us.” The Chicago Initiative is the largest fund-raising effort by far in the University’s history and among one of the largest ever undertaken by a U.S. university. Chicago Convenes, first held in April 2002 when the Chicago Initiative was publicly launched, celebrated the success of the campaign and the University’s impact on the city of Chicago and the world and is now an annual event.
Randel conferred the University of Chicago Medal on Marion Musser Lloyd, a Life Trustee, for distinguished service of the highest order. Only nine other individuals have received the award, which was established in 1976. Past medal recipients include Lindy Bergman, Gaylord Donnelly, William Graham, Irving Harris, Florence Lowden Miller, John U. Nef, Max Palevsky, and Joseph and Helen Regenstein. “The evening was great because these are the people who helped us reach the billion dollar milestone,” said campaign chair, Edgar Jannotta. “It was wonderful to honor Marion Lloyd’s contribution and her outstanding leadership.”
The dinner at Rockefeller Chapel capped a full day for the University’s leadership supporters, alumni and friends that began with welcoming remarks by Randel and Jannotta. Following the welcome were faculty-led panels, a tour of new campus facilities, participation in classes in the undergraduate College, neighborhood tours and a reception at the Oriental Institute.
