Best of CASE District IV Award
 

Institution: University of North Texas

Title of entry: Advancement Speaker Series That Changes Lives and Inspires Alumni

About this entry: The UNT Kuehne Speaker Series changes the lives of student scholarship recipients and their families, inspires our alumni and creates value for all that attend.

The series began in 2013 when UNT Advancement followed a donor’s vision and gift to build an off-campus speaker series to “tell the university’s story” and highlight its programs to its 250,000 alumni in the Dallas area. Over the past 11 years, the series has featured some of the nation’s top speakers and has raised millions of dollars to advance the series and build an endowed scholarship fund that sustains up to 6 $25,000 Scholarships awarded each year — the University’s largest donor-funded scholarship award. This growth and success has been achieved by engaging many of the university’s top donors and establishing a sponsorship and lifetime membership model to fund the series and build an endowed scholarship fund of over $3,500,000. Each season includes two events, Fall and Spring, in a reception and luncheon format, with the speaker giving a speech, a moderated interview, or a combination of the two. Events are held at some of the finest conference hotels in Dallas and Collin Counties and are managed by Advancement Special Events and staffed with volunteers from Advancement, the UNT Alumni Association, and student ambassador volunteers. In addition to the luncheon, a special VIP Event is held the evening before at very exclusive venues that includes the speaker and 80 guests comprised of the series top sponsors, lifetime members and special guests.