Crowdfunding campaign launches for Protect Purdue initiative

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A new crowdfunding campaign aims to raise funds to ensure a safe environment for students, faculty and staff as planning continues for their return to Purdue’s West Lafayette campus.

The fundraising appeal (video here) comes after Purdue President Mitch Daniels’ April 21 announcement that the university is making preparations to resume on-campus residency for students and some level of in-person instruction, subject to governmental restrictions and health and safety recommendations. The campus moved to online instruction in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purdue’s new crowdfunding campaign is raising funds for the Protect Purdue initiative and the critical resources required for the safe reopening of campus this fall. (Purdue University photo) Download image

A Protect Purdue implementation team is at work developing the plans, tools and protocols needed for the successful resumption of campus activities. These efforts will require additional resources to provide everyone in the Purdue community access to masks and face coverings, other personal protective equipment (PPE), sampling and testing kits, new technology tools to trace contacts, and student health and safety kits.

To ensure that every building is safe for learning, research and residential life activities, facility modifications to every classroom, learning lab and residence hall room will need to be made, safe social distancing flows established, new signs and training programs created and extra cleaning and sanitation protocols developed.

“Alumni and friends have been asking for weeks now, ‘What can I do to help Purdue reopen?’” Daniels said. “Here’s the opportunity, and given the scale and huge expense of what we are about to undertake, that opportunity is a large and varied one.”

Gifts to the crowdfunding campaign will go toward the Protect Purdue initiative. The fund will direct contributions toward areas of greatest need, enabling university leadership to move nimbly to address a range of anticipated and unanticipated needs.

“We know that Boilermakers are out in the world heroically solving the problems brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Matt Folk, vice president for university advancement and alumni engagement and president and CEO of the Purdue for Life Foundation. “We encourage the entire Purdue family to join together and protect Boilermaker students, faculty and staff so that our next generation of leaders can get the education they need to make a difference in the world.”

To contribute to Protect Purdue, visit crowdfunding.purdue.edu/protectpurdue.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to today’s toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 6 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at purdue.edu. 

Media contact: Lisa Tally, assistant vice president for philanthropic communications, University Development Office, lhtally@prf.org 

Source: Matt Folk, mdfolk@prf.org