At night, from the Duquesne University president’s office high up on the Bluff, Ken Gormley occasionally finds himself looking out at the city lights and thinking about the Duquesne presidents who came before him.
All faced their own challenges and all contributed in their own way to the Catholic university’s mission and growth, Mr. Gormley says in reflection.
Mr. Gormley, in his ninth year as president, certainly has faced his own challenges — specifically, the global pandemic and a looming drop in the number of college-age people.
But there has been progress and opportunity at the 8,100-student school under his tenure: from a new college of medicine, to a renovated athletic arena, from a record gift to its law school, to more scholarship money for students.
All of these milestones, and more, were made possible through Duquesne’s IGNITE fundraising campaign, which had a goal of raising $333,333,333 — a record amount for the private school — by June 30.
On Saturday evening, university leaders announced they had surpassed that goal, four months ahead of schedule.
“Success like this doesn't happen by accident, and it doesn't happen by just someone like me,“ Mr. Gormley told the Post-Gazette in an interview Friday. “It is this team of people, and the [donors] have to believe in the vision and want to push the rock up the hill and recognize that you only have this limited time here to make your imprint on this special university.
“This is our time. We decided to go big — and we’ve done it.”
It was in 2016, Mr. Gormley’s first year as president, that the university quietly launched IGNITE. Six years later, in 2022, the school would publicly announce the campaign, having already collected more than $235 million toward it.
With a third of a billion dollars now raised, this marks the largest fundraising campaign in the Uptown school’s 147-year history. The previous campaign record, set between 2005 and 2012, was $164 million.
Mr. Gormley, who previously served as the university’s law school dean, wanted to go big for Duquesne when he became president. Duquesne seemed to have an “inferiority complex,” he said.
So he began meeting with public officials and foundation leaders to explain Duquesne’s Catholic and Spiritan mission. At the same time, he began identifying initiatives and programs that could elevate the university’s educational experience.
The IGNITE campaign was less about a dollar amount and more about projects that could transform the university and its students, Mr. Gormley said.
“People didn't think it was possible to shoot this big. I’ve always believed that the limitations are only as significant as you make them for yourself,” he said. “We shot high on this thing, and we shot high on these goals — building a medical school, redoing the athletic program.”
The campaign, which will conclude June 30, is structured around four pillars: access and affordability; academic facilities and initiatives; student-centered experiences; and health care.
A quarter of all alumni have contributed to the campaign, Mr. Gormley said.
“The collective achievement of the Duquesne community is monumental,” Diane Hupp, chair of the university’s board of directors, said in a news release. “President Gormley set a vision and a strategic plan, and everyone worked together to achieve it.”
Impact already seen around campus
The IGNITE campaign’s fingerprints are all over the changes.
Perhaps the most visible change on campus is the College of Osteopathic Medicine, which welcomed its inaugural class over the summer. The college focuses on training primary care physicians who will practice in high-need areas in the region.
Alumni, board members and local foundations contributed more than $57 million through IGNITE to create the college, situated on Forbes Avenue.
“Pittsburgh itself is a medical hub, and it needed a second medical school,” said John Bachar, a member of the medical school’s inaugural class. “It's going to provide this whole area of Western Pennsylvania with a ton of future physicians.”
And certainly the most televised change came from the men’s basketball team, which brought March Madness to campus last spring after winning the Atlantic 10 Conference championship and making it to the second round of the 2024 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
The Dukes finished with an overall record of 25-12, defeating Saint Louis, Dayton, St. Bonaventure and Virginia Commonwealth en route to the tournament crown. In the opening round of the NCAA tournament, Duquesne beat Brigham Young University to claim its first NCAA Tournament victory since 1969. The team lost in the second round to the University of Illinois.
The Dukes’ success was the result of a concerted effort to elevate athletics on campus, Mr. Gormley said. More than $40 million was raised through the IGNITE campaign to renovate the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, for example.
Other key changes included renaming the law school the Thomas R. Kline School of Law after the alumnus and renowned litigator donated $50 million to the university in 2022 — the largest single gift in Duquesne’s history.
“It’s been fantastic to see the [law school] grow over the last three years, especially when Thomas Kline [gave] the donation — remodeling [the school] and taking care of the students over the past few years,” said William Harriger, a law student who will graduate this spring.
And the campaign has ushered in $63 million worth of scholarships and financial aid, creating more than 200 new endowed scholarship funds. More than 23,000 alumni and friends contributed to this pool, Duquesne officials said.
Brenna Sachs, a senior studying marketing and supply chain management, has been personally touched by the scholarships. She was one of five students to recently receive the Eugene P. Beard Scholarship.
“It’s personally impacted my education and experience at Duquesne,” Ms. Sachs said. “It gave me more time to focus on my studies, extracurriculars and leadership roles, and it relieved financial stress around tuition.”
Looking ahead
The university will continue raising money through the IGNITE campaign until its conclusion at the end of June.
How much more? “A lot,” said Mr. Gormley.
He didn’t cite a specific amount but instead listed campus goals that further donations would benefit, including alleviating student debt, expanding the campus engineering program, and offering more study-abroad opportunities.
“There's still a lot of things that need to be done and a lot of challenging terrain here as we continue to face challenges in higher education across the United States,” Mr. Gormley said. “I want Duquesne to come out of all this being one of the stronger leaders [by] showing what an institution that puts its priorities in the right places — namely the students and the mission — can really accomplish.”
First Published: February 16, 2025, 1:00 a.m.
Updated: February 17, 2025, 2:09 p.m.
