Now more than ever

These are important times for the United States, for democracy, and for the world. And they are important times for the Maxwell School, which exists to sort out the biggest issues of society, while preparing leaders and citizens for their roles in public life.

Maxwell is taking extraordinary steps to meet the challenges of the era. We are creating new research initiatives—and enhancing many of those that exist, so as to better inform public policy and gain a deeper understanding of society. We are creating named faculty positions and filling them with scholars who not only conduct such research, but also prepare future researchers to do the same. And, in particular, we are optimizing Maxwell’s advantages for undergraduates—many of them future public leaders, all of them future engaged citizens.

In all this work, Maxwell remains doggedly interdisciplinary, because complex public challenges require broad approaches. Maxwell is still the only major school of public affairs mixing the social sciences, policy research, and professional degrees.

Amid these efforts, in late 2019, Syracuse University announced the Forever Orange campaign. Within it lies $125 million in funding priorities for Maxwell. The campaign also incentivizes Maxwell to attract 125,000 unique donors, to symbolize the breadth of School support.

All who have ever supported Maxwell, or even considered supporting Maxwell, are encouraged to make a new investment in the School. For Maxwell, and for the world, it matters now more than ever.

Campaign priorities

Over the life of the Forever Orange campaign, Maxwell will raise $125 million to fund priorities contained in the School’s long-range strategic plan. As of early 2020, our donors have already moved us to meet almost half of our goal!

With this incredible support, our start is strong. To meet our campaign goals, we will raise the remaining $65 million to support the following priorities from the School’s long-range strategic plan.

Student Access and Experience

This is Maxwell’s top campaign priority, which will provide support for financial aid for both graduate and undergraduate students and undergraduate research.

Faculty Support

Maxwell hopes to create, through major naming gifts:

• seven endowed professorships (each requiring $2 million of support);
• thirty faculty fellowships (at $100,000 each); and
• with $5 million each, three specialized faculty posts: a Visiting Ambassador in Residence, Visiting Executive in Residence, and the Maxwell Deanship.

Gifts will also augment the existing Astrid Merget Fund (which supports professors based in D.C.) and the Tenth Decade Fund (which provides seed funding for entrepreneurial, interdisciplinary faculty research projects.

Discretionary Support

This campaign priority allows the School to support immediate priorities and needs. Half will go to the Dean’s Fund, through which School leadership seizes upon emerging opportunities and meets unforeseen challenges. In recent years, the Dean’s Fund has supported individual faculty research projects, provided start-up funding for Maxwell’s now-thriving X Lab, and allowed a handful of promising students to address unforeseen financial challenges.

Aside from the Dean’s Fund, discretionary gifts have supported programming for politically active veterans, Community Geography projects focused on refugee populations in Syracuse, and a new academic program at the nexus of geography and economics.

Research Center Support

Rounding out the campaign goals, Maxwell aims to underwrite research activities in the School’s interdisciplinary research centers and institutes.

Facility Upgrades

As well, we wish to fund facility upgrades, including new and improved spaces serving the School’s undergraduate population.