BY ADAM ATKINSONNorth Country This Week

POTSDAM – SUNY Potsdam officially kicked off its Deeply Rooted, Future Focused Campaign Saturday, Oct. 24 with a celebration of a major fundraising milestone and a Festival of Lights. 

With students, faculty and members of the community on hand for a variety of activities, the college marked its current fundraising total of $40,146,432 in gifts and commitments, just a few million shy of its $45 million goal. 

College officials have launched the final push towards that goal, its Deeply Rooted, Future Focused Campaign: The Campaign for Potsdam.

The campaign invites alumni, friends, and community members to help reach the $45 million benchmark by June 30, 2028. 

Learn more at https://www.potsdam.edu/giving/deeply-rooted-future-focused-campaign-potsdam .

The public launch Saturday was the culmination of a week of activities focused on the college's community, culture and legacy, including a block party, and the LoKo Arts Festival of Lights.

The money raised from the campaign is being focused on four key areas, college officials said in a recent press release: 

• Empowering student success: Expanding need-based and merit-based scholarships, investing in academic innovation, and strengthening the services that help students overcome challenges, persist in their studies and achieve their goals.
• Cultivating creative experiences: Creating more opportunities for students to put their learning into practice through internships, research, study abroad, leadership development and the arts, while strengthening connections between the College and the wider community.
• Enabling flexibility: Increasing support for the Fund for Potsdam and the Potsdam Promise, giving the College greater capacity to respond to emerging needs, invest in promising ideas and seize opportunities that benefit students.
• Securing Potsdam's future: Growing endowed funds and legacy commitments that will provide lasting support for scholarships, programs and the distinctive experiences that define a Potsdam education.

To learn more, visit www.potsdam.edu/deeplyrooted.

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