Issue date: 4/2/07 Section: News

Daniel Bates - THE BATTALION Presiding chair Jerry Cox speaks at a fundraiser celebration for the One Spirit One Vision Campaign in Reed Arena Friday. The campaign, which began Jan. 1, 2000, raised more than $1.5 billion for University development.

The Texas A&M Foundation's One Spirit One Vision campaign concluded Friday after raising more than $1.5 billion in seven years.

The final number, which was kept a closely guarded secret, was unveiled at a banquet Friday night in Reed Arena. The banquet was preceded by a luncheon to start off the day of celebration.

The One Spirit One Vision campaign, which had a

$1 billion goal, was part of the Vision 2020 plan - the plan that hopes to elevate A&M to a top 10 school by the year 2020. The fundraiser was designed to fund the academic portion of Vision 2020.

Jerry Cox, the presiding chair of One Spirit One Vision, said the foundation will provide resources to hire new faculty, fund scholarships, provide for research and advance programs in various schools and colleges within the University.

"One Spirit One Vision is a comprehensive campaign to cover all of the aspects of the Vision 2020 plan," Cox said. "We saw the task in front of us, and we were blessed to reach $1.5 billion, which will pay enormous dividends for A&M in the future."

Cox, who also donated to One Spirit One Vision, said the credit should go to people who believed in the Vision 2020 plan. The TAMU Foundation - along with a large volunteer infrastructure - searched the nation for people who wanted to financially support Vision 2020, he said.

Interim President Eddie J. Davis said One Spirit One Vision was successful because of the Aggie Spirit. Davis, who was president of the TAMU Foundation before being named interim president of the University, is intimately familiar with both Vision 2020 and One Spirit One Vision.

"One Spirit One Vision was a fabulous success," Davis said. "The credit goes to the donors - former students, friends and corporations - but it is important to know that people don't give to an enterprise they don't believe in, and these people believe in Texas A&M."

Cox said the TAMU Foundation will continue to strive to raise money for academic needs at A&M.

"We will have campaigns in the future, but this particular campaign was timed to fund Vision 2020," he said. "There will always be new needs and new requirements. That's the purpose of the TAMU foundation: finding private capital to fund a public school."

Despite past successes and future initiatives, Cox said One Spirit One Vision is a momentous occasion.

"The University is 125 plus years old and this campaign successfully raised more than two times any other campaign in the University's history," he said. "This is a once-in-a-125-year kind of thing. This was an extraordinary success and this will have an enormous impact on A&M."

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