Last Friday, the SMU Board of Trustees approved an “expanded structure of volunteer leadership” for the upcoming Centennial Campaign.

Under the structure, a new Campaign Leadership Council will consist of five co-chairs: Gerald R. Ford, convening co-chair; Ray L. Hunt, Special Projects co-chair; Ruth Altshuler, National co-chair; Caren Prothro, Academic co-chair; and Carl Sewell, Campus Life co-chair, according to a university press release.

Other Campaign Leadership Committee members are Mike Boone, Gary Crum, Linda Custard, Robert Dedman Jr., Mitch Hart, Gene Jones, Jeanne L. Phillips, John Tolleson and Richard Ware. All are members of the SMU Board of Trustees. The structure will include committees for the individual schools and for Texas and geographic regions throughout the country.

Every two months, the council and committee members will convene to discuss their progress, according to SMU President R. Gerald Turner.

The Leadership Council has already begun work during the campaign’s quiet phase, which started in January. The quiet phase of a campaign is the planning period that precedes a public announcement, raises early gifts and helps to establish the campaign’s monetary goal.

Though the board is still in a planning stage for the Centennial Campaign, Turner said he hopes half of the endowments the university receives will go toward student scholarships, a quarter for buildings and a quarter for operations.

“The push is going to be for endowments for student scholarships, faculty endowed positions and programs.” But, he emphasized, “we’re still talking in those ranges.”

During the last campaign, the board raised about one-third for endowments, one-third for buildings and one-third operations.

The next board meeting is scheduled for May. At this meeting, Turner said he expects three important decisions to take place: a vote on the final draft of the university’s strategic plan, the university’s final budget for the year and the size of the Centennial Campaign.