{"id":1679,"date":"2026-05-17T08:44:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T12:44:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/plan-and-purpose\/?post_type=story&p=1679"},"modified":"2026-05-17T18:19:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T22:19:52","slug":"clark-launches-historic-250m-plan-and-purpose-campaign","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/plan-and-purpose\/2026\/05\/17\/clark-launches-historic-250m-plan-and-purpose-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Clark launches historic $250M \u2018Plan and Purpose\u2019 campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Clark University on Saturday launched a comprehensive campaign that honors its storied past, celebrates its vibrant present, and accelerates toward a future of promise, passion, and purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlan and Purpose: Our Campaign for What Matters Most<\/a>\u201d is the most ambitious campaign in Clark\u2019s history, with a goal of raising $250 million to support and build on the institution\u2019s mission of educating students to be thoughtful and compassionate leaders and citizens, promoting the discovery of new knowledge, and being a relentless and prominent force for the advancement of humankind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The campaign theme is inspired by the words of founder Jonas G. Clark, who, in 1889, expressed his vision for the then-young Clark University \u2014 that it would ever be guided by \u201ca well-defined plan and purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cClark matters because we connect ideas to consequences \u2014 because we insist that knowledge be used in service to society.\u201d<\/p>\nPresident David Fithian \u201987<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

More than a century later, at a launch event held inside a packed Kneller Athletic Center, President David Fithian \u201987 noted that Clark University was \u201cdesigned to be different \u2014 to be very focused, to work across disciplinary boundaries, and to be rooted in Worcester, a city defined by resilience, reinvention, and the conviction that institutions should serve their communities and help move the world forward, not merely study it.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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At a time of significant challenges to higher education, he said, \u201cstanding still is the riskiest move of all.\u201d The moment calls for Clark to follow through on its plan to \u201cachieve greater focus, coherence, and reach.\u201d The \u201cPlan and Purpose\u201d campaign is shaped around three major imperatives concentrated in areas of \u201crecognized strength, clear demand, and true relevance \u2014 so that students, faculty, and partner institutions can plainly see what Clark excels at and why it matters,\u201d President Fithian said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n