WT’s One West Campaign Ends with Record-Breaking $208.6 Million Raised

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

CANYON, Texas — West Texas A&M University raised more than $200 million in its historic One West comprehensive fundraising campaign, officials announced Thursday.

The final campaign tally is $208,654,050 — the most money raised in a fundraising campaign in Texas Panhandle history.

The campaign, which funds the long-range plan WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World,  officially wrapped with a donor celebration Thursday in the Piehl-Schaeffer Pavilion on WT’s Canyon campus. The official count ended in December, and additional gifts will be celebrated in the next several weeks.

An on-campus celebration for students, faculty and staff will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 22 on the south lawn of the Geneva Schaeffer Education Building.

“We’ve had every measure of donor engaged in this campaign, from tens of millions of dollars to hundreds of dollars,” WT President Walter V. Wendler said.

“Two hundred million was suggested when we gathered to celebrate the kickoff of this campaign. Nobody believed it was possible,” Wendler continued. “There were doubters in the audience that thought we would never get to $125 million. Now, we’re over $200 million, and I could not be more pleased for the result that we’ve seen.”

The groundwork was laid for the campaign in 2017, when Paul Engler and the Engler Foundation made an $80 million gift to WT, $24 million of which was counted in the campaign. The public launch was held in September 2021, with an original goal of $125 million, which was reached just 18 months later. A second goal of $175 million was reached in September 2025.

In all, 13,377 different donors made a contribution to the campaign.

“While many things account for propelling WT into a promising future cast by a bold vision for what this institution of higher education is and will become, it is unquestionable that your generous philanthropic support is vital to making WT a great University,” said Dr. Todd Rasberry, vice president for philanthropy and external relations and executive director of the WTAMU Foundation, told the audience of donors and special guests. “We are here to celebrate and to say thank you.”

One Campaign, Three Priorities

The One West campaign was focused on three priorities: People, through scholarships and professorships; Programs, through University and College priorities; and Places, through strategic growth and enhancements across the University.

Each of WT’s six Colleges benefitted from the campaign: the Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, the Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business, the Terry B. Rogers College of Education and Social Sciences, the College of Engineering, the Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities, and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

Also benefitting: The WT Graduate School, WT Athletics, and the Office of Student Affairs.

LINK: Learn more about One West’s focus on People

Through the One West Campaign, WT grew from 26 to 109 endowed professorships and chairs. Endowed scholarships increased by 31.3 percent during the campaign.

When combined with other scholarships, more than $8 million is available annually to help WT students to graduate and succeed with reduced educational debt.

LINK: Learn more about One West’s focus on Programs

The campaign launched new research institutes and initiatives that will have an impact regionally and across the globe, ultimately leading to WT being classified in August by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a Research College and University, or RCU. The new designation identifies research happening at colleges and universities that historically have not been recognized for their research activity.

During the campaign, three Colleges and two schools were named: The Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, the Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business, the Terry B. Rogers College of Education and Social Sciences, the Amarillo National Bank School of Accounting, Economics and Finance, and the Laura and Joe Street School of Nursing.

Three institutes also were established: The Hill Institute, the Panhandle Institute for Engineering Research, and  Most recently, a High Plains Christian Ministries Foundation Health Institute.

LINK: Learn more about One West’s focus on Places

Gifts to the campaign transformed the WT campus through the spaces like the revived Geneva Schaeffer Education Building, the renovated Joseph A. Hill Memorial Chapel, the completed Bain Athletic Complex, and the newly constructed Happy State Bank Academic and Research Building and adjoining complexes. The Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium officially was named during the campaign, as well.

Leaving a lasting legacy

Many of the gifts not only had immediate impacts. Through the establishment of endowments, they also will provide permanent funding for priorities across campus.

Endowments are legacy instruments that indicate the health and success of an educational institution. The endowment growth through the campaign is 56 percent, and it is expected to continue to grow with the economy and with additional gifts. 

“(Donors) epitomize what we work to foster through volunteering on the board,” said Shyla Buckner, WTAMU Foundation president. “Your continuous generous financial support and involvement is both an investment in the vision for WT and an inspiration for others to join you.”

Reflecting on a historic success

Campaign and University leaders, in videos made for the donor event, reflected on the hard work that made the campaign a success.

“Look at the numbers we’ve attained, and when I say ‘we,’ I mean ‘we’,” Wendler said. “This has been a group effort,” citing donors, alumni, volunteers, staff and administrators.

The campaign was led by Wendler and Rasberry in coordination with a leadership committee: Leah McLain, Jim J. Brewer, Cheryl and Alex Fairly, Dyke and Terry Rogers, and David and Sherry Schaeffer. A campaign steering committee of about 70 volunteers, WT faculty and others also played a pivotal role.

The campaign’s effectiveness is largely due to “the frontline staff here at WT, the fundraising professionals,” said Leah McLain, a member of the campaign leadership committee, especially “the care that they have for this University and for the people who have been so generous to the campaign.”

Leaders, though, also said the campaign’s record-breaking success ultimately boiled down to one factor: The 13,377 donors who made gifts to One West.

“It just shows how the people of the Panhandle feel about WT and its importance to the area,” said Steve Dalrymple, HPCMF president, CEO and chief legal officer. “We were certainly happy to be part of it.”

“The people of the Panhandle love WT,” said Jim J. Brewer, another campaign leadership committee member. “WT belongs to the people of the Panhandle. WT feeds the people of the Panhandle. WT teaches the Panhandle. It nurses the people of the Panhandle. And, in return, they have been very generous to the institution.”

About West Texas A&M University

A Regional Research University, West Texas A&M University is redefining excellence in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus, as well as the Harrington Academic Hall WTAMU Amarillo Center in downtown Amarillo. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT boasts an enrollment of more than 9,000 and offers 66 undergraduate degree programs, including eight associate degrees; and 44 graduate degrees, including an integrated bachelor’s and master’s degree, a specialist degree and two doctoral degrees. WT recently earned a Carnegie Foundation classification as a Research College and University. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 16 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

Photo: Dr. Todd Rasberry, center, vice president of philanthropy and external relations and executive director of the WTAMU Foundation, and WT President Walter V. Wendler celebrate the announcement of West Texas A&M University's One West comprehensive fundraising campaign total—$208,654,050, the most money raised in a fundraising campaign in Texas Panhandle history.

—WT—