Northwest capital campaign raises nearly $10 million
Photo: From left, Northwest President Dr. Michael Heindl, along with Fred Carlisle and Miles Davis unveil the final amount from the school’s first-ever Capital Campaign. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
Northwest Mississippi Community College Foundation recently revealed the results of its first Capital Campaign, named “Investing Today, Impacting Tomorrow.” A celebration event was held at the college’s Haraway Center in Senatobia.
Patti Gordon, the school’s Executive Director of Institutional Advancement, said Northwest had originally set a goal of $4.65 million when the five-year campaign first began in 2020. However, funds quickly poured into the campaign and in just two years, it had grown to $4 million.
At the reveal, it was shown that $9.813 million had been raised for the community college.
The campaign was the first ever for Northwest. The $9.813 million is a combination of cash gifts, pledges, payroll deductions, in-kind contributions, and estate gifts. Several areas of the college will benefit, including the DeSoto Center and soon-to-open Ranger Center, where a growing nursing program will be located.
“That’s only going to increase the number of students that Northwest will be graduating,” said Randy White, Chief Nursing Officer for Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto in a video detailing the places that will be funded with the campaign money.
“The Ranger Center is going to be a game changer for the second registered nursing program that we have now at the college,” said Northwest President Dr. Michael Heindl.
The campaign has also funded other projects, including the Heindl Center for the Performing Arts, The Concourse in Batesville, Ranger Soccer/Softball Complex, Aviation Pilot Program, Oxford Center Health Science Program, improvements to the Ranger Farm, and Athletic Performance Facility.
Northwest officials, including Gordon and Heindl, labeled the campaign a huge success for meeting the financial goals, with Heidl adding the fundraising for the capital campaign did not take away from funding for scholarships.
“I would venture to guess that we’ve not missed a beat in scholarships and endowed scholarships,” Heindl said. “We have the same number of continuous endowed scholarships year over year, if not more than we’ve had in the past.”
Athletically, the soccer/softball complex will support two programs that are annually among the best in the nation. The women’s soccer team went undefeated this past season to win the NJCAA Division II national title, and the softball team regularly is among the highest-ranked programs in the country.
“Before this time, students didn’t have a place to meet as a team, no locker rooms, no visiting team locker room, restroom facilities, nothing like that,” Heindl said.
The athletic facility will support various other programs and the improvements to the Ranger Farm will support the school’s rodeo program.
“These projects have really moved the institution farther and really made us a leader, not just in the state of Mississippi, but in the nation,” Heindl said.
