Community voices help CWU launch $75 million Futures Campaign

A student's future is built one story at a time—stories shaped by place, connection, and hope—and on Friday, October 9, Central Washington University started its next chapter of creating those stories: the Futures Campaign.

The $75 million fundraising and engagement initiative is a multi-year effort to expand opportunity for students, deepen the learning experiences that propel careers, and extend the university's impact across Washington state.

The campaign will also seek to increase funding for student basic needs support such as the Wildcat Pantry and access to low-cost course materials, as well as investments in enhanced academic and athletic facilities.

For Washington. For the future.

Inside Hertz Concert Hall, in the Jerilyn S. McIntyre Music Building, the launch celebrated the momentum behind the Futures Campaign and the collective vision that inspired it. Wildcats past and present came together around a shared belief that opportunity can change lives, families, and communities.

The evening opened not with numbers or pledges, but with a soaring musical ode to possibility. Led by Director of Choral Studies Nicole Lamartine, the CWU Chamber Choir—recently chosen to perform at the 2027 National American Choral Directors Association National Conference—performed Pinkzebra’s "Shine Like Stars," a song about living boldly and refusing to wait for the right moment to begin.

What followed was less a program than a conversation around the real ways student futures drive hope and change.

CWU President Jim Wohlpart framed the Futures Campaign around a question: what is Washington asking of Central right now? As industries transform, he said, the state’s need for skilled graduates—especially first-generation and those from rural communities—is only growing.

The campaign is ready to meet that need. He shared a story he’s never forgotten: a CWU student who once chose to pay his tuition instead of his rent, living in his car so he could graduate. “No student should have to make that choice to earn a degree,” Wohlpart said.

Experience that creates leaders

Soon, the stage filled with speakers who have been empowered by a CWU education—and many who have stepped forward to ensure more students will be supported through the campaign’s efforts.

A panel of current and former Wildcats shared how their Central experience prepared them to grow and to lead in careers across the state and country. One of those graduates, alumnus Jason Berry (‘15), earned his degree two decades into his career through CWU's FlexIt program, and rose to serve as chief operating officer at Alaska Airlines.

Far-reaching impact

The evening's faculty voices, Department of Psychology Chair Heidi Perez and School of Education Director Jenny Dechaine, widened the lens further by explaining how a CWU degree doesn't stay on campus; it travels into classrooms, clinics, and communities across the state, carried by the graduates who hold it.

Perez pointed to Comprehensive Healthcare's over $1 million commitment through the campaign to reestablish CWU's Mental Health Counseling graduate program, training the next generation of licensed counselors to fill the growing need for behavioral health providers everywhere.

Dechaine pointed to a less visible cost of teacher training. She explained how student teachers are required to complete a quarter-long classroom internship, currently unpaid, often in rural communities where the need for new teachers is greatest.

"We need to support student teachers in order to meet the education needs of Washington communities,” Dechaine emphasized.

Removing barriers

The program turned to the students still writing their own stories. Judah Tadema, who came to Moses Lake after seven years in a Ukrainian orphanage, is earning his degree debt-free thanks to scholarships and is now student teaching in the same community that took him in.

Diana Schneider, who came to the U.S. from Germany as a child and arrived at Central through a donor-supported Wildcat Promise scholarship, spoke about working full-time in the financial aid office while finishing her degree.

“I’ve struggled to meet my bills,” she said. “There are so many resources out there you don’t know about—and so many opportunities, made possible by donors just like you.”

It was a reminder that the Campaign’s promise of increased “opportunity” is really just a word for removing what gets in a student’s way.

By the time Zabrina Jenkins (‘92), a CWU trustee, took the stage, the thread connecting the evening’s stories was hard to miss. “If you want to talk about opportunity, impact, and experience, Central has it all,” she said. “Central may be in a small-town setting, but the impact this university has is anything but small.”

Together, we build futures

The program closed with the voices of campaign leaders and alumni who each took their Central education far beyond the Kittitas Valley—only to circle back in support of today's students. Campaign Co-Chair Lisa Conquergood (’91), built her career as a startup founder and CMO in tech marketing.   

She delivered the night's final words alongside a video recording of General James N. Mattis (’71), the campaign's honorary chair and a retired U.S. Marine Corps general who went on to serve as U.S. Secretary of Defense.  

Mattis shared his appreciation for the CWU campus and community that have made an impact on generations of graduates, leaving all “better prepared to deal with whatever life might throw at us.”

Conquergood returned to the stage, bolstering all to celebrate the momentum of the Futures Campaign, having already raised $57 million toward its $75 million goal.

“Our future begins now,” she said. “A CWU education doesn’t just change individual lives—it strengthens communities throughout Washington and beyond. Now, you have an opportunity to join us.”

When the lights came up, the event had made a case for the Futures Campaign that went beyond dollars or statistics. The evening brought together the full breadth of the Central community—alumni, donors, faculty and staff, civic and community leaders, and students—all in one room, united around the same goal.

“I’m grateful to the more than 9,500 donors who have already supported this campaign, and to everyone who came together to make tonight’s launch so special,” said Paul Elstone, vice president for University Advancement. “CWU has always been a place for people from all backgrounds and every kind of dream to find their path. And this campaign ensures a future for the next generation of students.”

Now, CWU invites the community to envision how much more can be done to ensure every student succeeds, and how Central graduates can carry that work forward, serving the people and communities of Washington and beyond. Wildcats, friends, and partners everywhere are invited to find a place within a community that welcomes everyone, and invest in building futures, together.  

To learn more about the Futures Campaign or how you can get involved, visit the campaign webpage, futures.cwu.edu.