The National Campaign for York University has announced that it has surpassed the halfway mark in its drive to raise $100 million by the year 2,000.

    Pledges and donations from faculty and staff, Board of Governors, alumni, corporations, foundations and individual friends of York have helped boost the National Campaign over the $50 million mark.

    An important component of the Campaign's success to date has been the Ontario Student Opportunity Trust Fund (OSOTF), a provincial government program to match any donations to endowed student financial aid.

    The government program was announced in May 1996 and ended March 31, 1997. Although the final amount has not been tabulated, York raised more than $20 million under this program. With the matching funds, this initiative is expected to add at least $40 million to endowed student financial aid.

    "The government matching program was a great opportunity for York and we took full advantage of it," says John Bankes (MBA, LLB '77), National Campaign Co-Chair. "People really understand how our tough economy has made getting a university education much harder, and both private individuals and corporations have been very anxious to support students.

    "The OSOTF program has raised the level of awareness for scholarship and financial assistance programs and it will continue to be a significant part of our presentation to donors," adds Bankes. "Although the immediate pressure, generated by the deadline of the matching program, is off, we know that there will be many more contributions to our scholarship endowment before the Campaign ends."

    The balance of the more than $50 million raised to date has been designated to program support covering a wide variety of projects.