Drury to complete $50M capital campaign 'very soon,' president says

Drury University is nearing the goal for its Fortify the Future initiative, a $50 million capital campaign that started in 2022.

Jeff Frederick, Drury's president since June 2024, was interviewed yesterday by Springfield Business Journal Executive Editor Christine Temple. The live interview was held for SBJ's 12 People You Need to Know series at The Backlot, Alamo Drafthouse Springfield's restaurant and bar.

Fortify the Future was announced publicly in 2023 after starting in a quiet phase the prior year, with planned uses of funding including student scholarships and academic programs, building upgrades and an endowment increase, according to past reporting. The campaign has a May 2027 scheduled conclusion.

"We're likely to reach our preliminary goal for Fortify the Future very, very soon," Frederick said in the interview yesterday. "We will extend that goal, and we will continue to try to strive higher."

Frederick said Drury leaders next year plan to form the university’s next strategic plan, and with that, draft a new capital campaign.

"One of the blessings of being on our campus is that you can stand in buildings that were built in the 19th century. One of the curses of being on our campus – you see where that's going," he said. "We are eager to figure out what's next. We've got some infrastructure that we need to get better at."

Frederick said during the interview that in a volatile time for public education, supporters are needed more than ever.

"Higher education needs true believers,” he said. “They need people who believe in the difference between what you are when you report as an 18-year-old and what you are when you walk across as a 22-year-old. Or a more accurate current reading, when a 32-year-old single mother in an online program, trying to get a credential so that their child can have health insurance because they can get a while-collar job, the transition between the first time they log in and they walk across the stage, those are the things that higher education really needs true believers for."

At the end of the event yesterday, SBJ announced City Utilities of Springfield President and CEO Dwayne Fulk would be the April 15 guest for the 12 People You Need to Know series.