Trent University Surpasses Fundraising Goal for Provincial Matching Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

More than $800,000 Raised in Ontario Trust for Student Support (OTSS) Campaign

Tuesday, April 8, 2008, Peterborough

Trent students for generations to come will be the direct beneficiaries of a successful fundraising campaign at Trent University, which raised over $800,000 for the Ontario Trust for Student Support (OTSS), exceeding the University’s original fundraising target by nearly $20,000.

Established by the Government of Ontario in 2005, the Ontario Trust for Student Support (OTSS) matches endowed donations on a dollar-for-dollar basis to provide bursaries and awards to Ontario students. Each year, the University is provided with the opportunity to raise matched-gift funding through the OTSS program. For the 2007/2008 year, Trent was given a ceiling of $781,420 to raise under the OTSS program. From April 1, 2007 to March 30, 2008 the University recorded donations equalling $801,182, thereby exceeding the target by $19,762 and representing a 36 per cent increase in funds raised over the previous year.

“With the matched funds, Trent University has raised more than $1.5 million for student bursaries and awards through the OTSS campaign,” said Dianne Lister, vice-president of external relations and advancement. “This is a number the entire Trent community can be proud of as it represents important investments in our University by our faculty, staff and volunteers, as well as the community at large.”

Of the total amount raised, Trent University faculty and staff contributed over $81,000 to the OTSS campaign. Members of Trent’s Board of Governors also played a leadership role in contributing to the campaign. Generous donors from outside the University brought Trent’s fundraising target over the top.

When asked why she donated to the OTSS campaign at Trent, local resident Barbara Bailey responded: “I've lived in Peterborough most of my life and watched Trent rise from the limestone and the earth at Nassau Road. I strongly believe in education and want to help others reach their goals.”

The Peter Bailey Bursary, which Ms. Bailey set up, is just one of 26 new student bursaries and awards established at Trent this year thanks to the OTSS campaign. Other new bursaries and awards include:

• Board of Governors Leadership Award, established by members of Trent University’s Board of Governors to recognize academic excellence and provide additional assistance to students in financial need;
• Peterborough Liftlock Atom Hockey Tournament Athletic Bursary, established in the tournament’s 50th anniversary year to assist local students entering their first year at Trent who have also shown a commitment to athletics;
• Geography and Watershed Ecosystems North Bursary, established through the proceeds of Professor Emeritus Peter Adams’ new book, Trent, McGill and the North;
• Graduate Students' Association Bursary Fund, which marks the first time a student association at the graduate level has taken a leadership role in creating such a substantial fund at Trent;
• CUPE 3908 Bursary, established to assist graduate and undergraduate students who are in financial need and are also members of CUPE 3908.

Another successful initiative launched through this year’s OTSS campaign is the new Community Leaders Awards program, which recognizes and celebrates outstanding individuals from the community who have made significant contributions toward the betterment of our society. Donations made in the name of the six inaugural award winners – Wally Macht, Brian Desbiens, Mollie Cartmell, Chief Keith Knott, Dr. Jenny Ingram, and the Armstrong family – are being matched by OTSS to create a named, endowed fund in their honour to provide financial assistance for Trent students.

For more information about the OTSS program at Trent, visit the OTSS website.

-30-

For more information, please contact:
Shirlanne Pawley-Boyd, Senior Advancement Director, External Relations & Advancement,
Trent University, (705) 748-1011 ext. 7955