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The ŷ������Ƭ’s largest fundraising campaign has reached $450 million in contributions.

President Dr. Joseph Savoie announced the campaign’s progress during the State of the ŷ������Ƭ on Aug. 21.

“Private dollars are important,” Savoie said. “They enable the ŷ������Ƭ to meet its most essential needs by supplementing state funding. Donors provide scholarships for students and endowed support for faculty members, while enhancing the ŷ������Ƭ’s community service mission.”

More than 29,000 donors have contributed to the campaign to date, Savoie said. Among that total are over 600 ŷ������Ƭ faculty and staff members.

is the largest single fundraising initiative in the ŷ������Ƭ’s history. It launched publicly in late 2021 and will conclude next year.  

The campaign’s $500 million goal will enable support for:  

• Student success and teaching, including increasing scholarship access; enhancing teaching and learning environments; and optimizing facilities for students. 
• Research and discovery, including attracting and retaining top-tier faculty members; expanding research programs and partnerships; and enhancing research. 
• Service to the community, which includes creating and enhancing performance spaces; expanding impact on K-12 public education; and strengthening the ŷ������Ƭ’s role in health care workforce creation. 

The $450 million the campaign has raised to date includes the two largest investments in ŷ������Ƭ history – $20 million from LHC Group to the College of Nursing & Health Sciences and $15 million from Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center to Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Athletics. Both were received in 2021.

Notable gifts in the past year include $7 million from the James Devin Moncus Family Foundation that will enable the continued growth of the ŷ������Ƭ’s Health Sciences Campus and fund an endowment to support the College of Nursing & Health Sciences. Moncus was a philanthropist, businessman and community leader who died in 2021.

UL Lafayette honored the gift – and Moncus’ longtime support for the ŷ������Ƭ – by naming one of the buildings on the Health Sciences Campus as James D. Moncus Hall. It welcomed nursing students for the first time last fall.  

Additional gifts in the past year include:

• $2 million from Al Gonsoulin, a 1965 business graduate, to establish the Alton & Evelyn Gonsoulin Undergraduate and Graduate Scholarships in the B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration. 
• $1.6 million from Greg and Alexis Guidry to establish an endowed chair in engineering innovation, and to support the Engineering Center of Excellence (ECoE) Fund and the Greg Guidry Energy Systems Lab in Mechanical Engineering. Greg Guidry is a 1982 mechanical engineering graduate.   
• $1.5 million from Ann Harrell and Melissa Socia to establish the Jakelynn Ammons Student Life Center in James D. Moncus Hall for students in the College of Nursing & Health Sciences. Jakelynn Ammons passed away while a student at UL Lafayette. The student life center in her memory will house offices and meeting spaces for student organizations and offer scholarship and financial aid support, engagement opportunities and resources for prospective and current students.
• $285,000 from Acadian Ambulance through a personal commitment from company founder Richard Zuschlag. The gift supports the construction of Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium. Zuschlag passed away earlier this year.

“And there’s more to come,” said John Blohm, vice president for ŷ������Ƭ Advancement and CEO of the UL Lafayette Foundation. “We remain grateful to the donors, alumni, friends and members of the ŷ������Ƭ community who – by working together – will enable us to bring this campaign to a successful close and whose generosity will support our students and faculty for years to come.”

Visit for more information or to contribute to the Together campaign. Visit louisiana.edu/stateoftheŷ������Ƭ for more from the Fall 2024 State of the ŷ������Ƭ presentation.

Graphic credit: ŷ������Ƭ