To the UC Davis Community:

Today marks a historic day on the UC Davis campus. The time has come to celebrate the success of our eight-year fundraising campaign, “Expect Greater: From UC Davis, for the World.”

The campaign, launched in 2016, is the largest in our history. Since then, we’ve raised over $2.25 billion from 133,961 donors who provided 448,953 gifts. These funds provide student scholarships, ignite our research, attract and retain our world-class faculty, launch innovations that transform the world for the better and ensure that our facilities support the needs of our ever-changing work. The funds raised provide for the basic needs of members of our community and help provide expansive educational and research opportunities. In some cases, they will transform lives. 

Please join us from 2 to 6 p.m. today in the University Credit Union Center for an indoor carnival and the big event, a three-ring spectacular starting at 5 p.m. The show will be a memorable one, and you might even catch a bit of magic featuring LeShelle and me.

Creating opportunities across our campuses

It’s fitting that the word philanthropy comes from the Greek words for love and humanity. This significant investment in UC Davis and its mission to transform the world is rooted in supporting human beings in realizing their potential as students, faculty and staff, striving to create a more just and equitable world and conducting transformative research whose benefits extend across California and the world. 

Each gift — whether it’s funding the development of cutting-edge medical treatments at UC Davis Health or supporting our efforts to make our campuses more sustainable — is an act of love and faith in our community and mission.

Every part of UC Davis is touched by the generosity of donors who believe in and support our community.

I encourage you to visit the UC Davis Giving webpage to learn more about the transformative power of these gifts. In the meantime, I want to highlight a few stories demonstrating how philanthropic giving is changing the lives of our students on campus.

Building opportunities for students

Donors are making it possible for students to achieve their college dreams. As part of their $50 million gift — the largest in the history of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences — Lynda and Stewart Resnick support Wonderful Scholars, many of whom are first-generation students. 

As plant sciences major Deysi Alvaro Ceja, one of the Wonderful Scholars, said when the gift was announced: “The Resnicks’ scholarship has enabled me to stay focused on my education without worrying about not having enough money to pay for tuition. The coaches and tutors have supported me every step of the way.”

First-generation alumni Sharon and Gary Takahashi are funding scholarships for future teachers at the School of Education. Sharon, who taught for over 30 years, credits UC Davis for “lighting the flame” for her decision to teach and wanted to support other future educators who will impact generations to come.  

Donors are expanding research opportunities for students on the ground floor of discoveries. One example is the Diane Bryant Engineering Student Design Center, a 23,000-square-foot facility where Aggie engineers are born. There, students tackle engineering challenges at their source by identifying a need. Guided by expert faculty, they build solutions from concept to prototype to market.

Donors are driving our student-athletes to achieve their championship ambitions. The 50,000-square-foot Edwards Family Athletics Center, which opened in 2022, is a transformational facility that includes spaces for strength and conditioning, training and medical treatment, plus educational support — all right next to each other. This state-of-the-art facility is fueling our athletes on the field while providing a space for them to excel academically and launch into their careers after their playing days.

Princeton Toki, a fifth-year communications major and football captain, has been amazed by the contrast between the facilities when he arrived in 2020 and today. He credits the Edwards Family Athletics Center with significantly improving recovery and the healing process, thanks to best-in-class equipment, such as the underwater treadmill, portable massage devices, and hot and cold therapy machines available to athletes.

Patrons are bringing the humanizing power of the arts to students. The $20+ million Maria Manetti Shrem Arts Renaissance funds new faculty positions, graduate fellowships, and residency programs to make the arts accessible to all students. 

That support means students like Madeline Furtado, a senior majoring in design and art history, are developing skills they’ll need to pursue careers in the arts and museums. As an intern and staffer at the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, she and 31 other UC Davis students had the opportunity to curate an exhibition featuring artwork by Salvador Dali and Francis Bacon, an experience she never dreamed she would have as an undergraduate. 

That exhibition, Light into Density, will run at the museum until May. Madeline credits her time at the museum with helping her find her voice, learn how to delve into archives for the most thought-provoking insights and work to make museum spaces more welcoming to all.

Paying it forward

Benefactors play a crucial role in meeting the basic needs of Aggies so they can focus on their studies. Their support for the Aggie Compass Basic Needs Center makes critical educational and financial support available to students. The center offers an emergency shelter program to assist students in housing crises, basic needs grants to provide support for unforeseen circumstances, and the Aggie Eats food truck that provides 500 meals a day on a pay-what-you-can model. 

Natalia Santos, a first-generation student and community and regional development major, knows that Aggie Compass provides financial support that students may not even know is available to them, from helping to pay for blood work to basic car maintenance. As the Center Lead and Intake Coordinator, she developed a course to help students understand and access these resources.

And Aggies are paying it forward. The Student Foundation — also known as Aggies Helping Aggies — is a student-led, staff-supported program that raises money to support campus programs and educates fellow students about the importance of giving. 

Their three primary programs are the Student Emergency Relief Aid grants to assist students with urgent, unforeseen challenges; the Cap & Gown Award, which ensures that every graduating student has access to regalia; and the Senior Class Challenge, which encourages graduating seniors to leave a legacy on campus through giving.

Student Foundation President and biology major Katrina Poulter got involved with the organization because she wanted to help fellow students understand how philanthropy touches every program at UC Davis and to reduce the stigma that those in need too often face. Katrina believes that community means giving when we can and receiving support when we need it.

Meeting the challenge

That’s one of the most important elements of philanthropy: generous giving extends beyond the recipient and ripples out to the wider community. Those who support UC Davis students are laying the foundation for teachers who will inspire generations of students, researchers who will advance public health, leaders who will envision a more just world and future philanthropists and volunteers who will lift up their communities.

The investment in our students is an investment in the future and an expression of faith in the power of UC Davis students to rise to any challenge.

That faith comes with an obligation to meet the moment. Because donors so generously support our university and its students, the world will expect even greater from UC Davis. And together, we’ll deliver. 

Sincerely,

Gary S. May
Chancellor