{"id":6715,"date":"2017-11-25T16:00:06","date_gmt":"2017-11-25T22:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/?p=6715"},"modified":"2017-11-29T11:14:14","modified_gmt":"2017-11-29T17:14:14","slug":"connect-campaign-reaches-14-4-million-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/2017\/connect-campaign-reaches-14-4-million-goal\/","title":{"rendered":"CONNECT Campaign reaches $14.4 million goal"},"content":{"rendered":"

A fundraising campaign to build Marpeck Commons, the library, learning commons, and bridge at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU), has reached its goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is our great pleasure and gratitude to announce that the CONNECT Campaign goal of $14.4 million has been achieved in gifts and commitments,\u201d CMU President Dr. Cheryl Pauls said during a speech she gave on Saturday, November 25 at the university\u2019s annual Christmas concert.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Marpeck Commons, housing the CMU Library, CommonWord Bookstore and Resource Centre, folio caf\u00e9, and a learning commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Plans for Marpeck Commons started taking shape in 2009, when leadership at CMU began envisioning a building that would get the university\u2019s library out of the basement, as well as create a learning commons with light and space.<\/p>\n

The building would include a pedestrian bridge linking the two sides of CMU\u2019s Shaftesbury campus and ensuring safe passageway across Grant Avenue. It would be a space drawing together the community within and surrounding CMU\u2014the community of students, staff, and faculty, as well as the community of neighbours and constituents.<\/p>\n

That dream became a reality when CMU opened the doors of Marpeck Commons on January 5, 2015.<\/p>\n

Since then, Marpeck Commons has had a measurable and transformative impact for CMU students, faculty, and the broader community. The CMU Library, for example, annually receives more than three times the\u00a0number of visitors it received in its\u00a0previous location.<\/span><\/p>\n

The building includes an inviting caf\u00e9, along with a bookstore and resource centre with the most extensive selection of theological resources anywhere in the province.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The pedestrian bridge, which spans Grant Avenue, connects the north and south sides of CMU’s Shaftesbury campus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This has been the largest fundraising campaign in CMU\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

Nine hundred\u00a0donors contributed, with 60 per cent of those contributions coming from Manitoba and 40 per cent coming from out of province. The donations included those of alumni and supporters who purchased 459 engraved bridge tiles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are honoured by the generous investment of 900 families, individuals, foundations, and churches who collectively paid for the whole of Marpeck Commons,\u201d Pauls said. \u201cTheir vision has created a cherished gathering place, which we are delighted to share with thousands of people annually.\u201d<\/p>\n

The volunteer leadership of the CONNECT Campaign Cabinet, a group characterized by deep generosity and vision, has been critical to the success of this fundraising endeavour.<\/p>\n

Led by campaign chair Elmer Hildebrand, CEO of Golden West Broadcasting, Ltd, the cabinet included Arthur DeFehr, Philipp R. Ens, Bill Fast, Janice Filmon, Albert Friesen, Charles Loewen, Jake Rempel, and Tamara Roehr.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am really pleased with the way all of the members of our campaign cabinet stepped up to meet the challenge,\u201d Hildebrand said. \u201cIt was a real pleasure to work with this group of visionary and generous individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n

About CMU
\n<\/strong>A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU\u2019s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as\u00a0graduate degrees in theology,\u00a0ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 900 full-time equivalent\u00a0students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.<\/em><\/p>\n

For information about CMU visit\u00a0www.cmu.ca<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

For additional information, please contact:
\nKevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
\nkkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
\nCanadian Mennonite University
\n500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB\u00a0 R3P 2N2<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A fundraising campaign to build Marpeck Commons, the library, learning commons, and bridge at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU), has reached its goal. \u201cIt is our great pleasure and gratitude to announce that the CONNECT Campaign goal of $14.4 million has been achieved in gifts and commitments,\u201d CMU President Dr. Cheryl Pauls said during a speech […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[25,5],"tags":[911,908,910,912,321,322,298,349,913,352,564,909,914],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6715"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6715"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6740,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6715\/revisions\/6740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}