Neither the sweltering summer sun nor threatening wind gusts nor intermittent rain could stop the Metropolitan State University of Denver community from gathering last Thursday for an unprecedented celebration: the close of the University’s inaugural comprehensive fundraising campaign, Roadrunners Rise.
When the multiyear initiative’s silent fundraising phase began in fall 2020, the goal was to solidify MSU Denver’s position as a national leader in social mobility by raising $100 million for four fundraising pillars: facilitating student success, creating classroom-to-career pathways, cultivating inclusive excellence and advancing Colorado’s talent pipeline. The public phase of Roadrunners Rise launched Feb. 19, 2025; nine months later, the campaign goal was surpassed.
At last week’s event, Christine Márquez-Hudson, vice president of University Advancement, revealed that the campaign total now exceeds $118 million.
“It took a village to make this happen. We believed that MSU Denver was worthy of philanthropy, that our students deserved investment. And people responded,” Márquez-Hudson said to a crowd of nearly 350 guests, including students, alumni, faculty, staff and community members. “Because of our collective belief, we didn’t just meet our needs; we changed lives.”
Márquez-Hudson shared campaign highlights:
- More than 800 MSU Denver faculty and staff members made over 13,000 gifts in support of our mission and students.
- Eighty-five percent of nearly 60,000 campaign gifts were under $100, proving that participation mattered as much as capacity.
- Across the five years of the campaign, 3,500 students received scholarship support totaling $12.7 million.
- Over 10,000 first-time donors contributed to the campaign.
- Nearly 5,000 donors made more than one gift.
Márquez-Hudson’s remarks were followed by an exciting announcement: The Kemper Family foundations are committing a $3 million gift to the Classroom to Career Hub, elevating the impact of the $500,000 transformational gift they made in 2023. Eliza Kemper Roometua, who spoke on behalf of her family, noted that from the first time the Kemper family engaged with MSU Denver, they knew it was something special.
“We saw a University deeply connected to its mission, students who were determined, resilient and full of potential, and an institution that was delivering real outcomes,” said Roometua, art advisor and development consultant with Ann Benson Reidy + Associates, and Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art trustee.
The Kemper family, she continued, believes that the University is a bridge between education and opportunity: “When you invest in MSU Denver, you are investing in changemakers who will transform industries, communities and lives.”
As the joyous evening wound down, MSU Denver President Janine Davidson, Ph.D., echoed the universal sentiment of gratitude, pointing out that the celebration was about more than a fundraising milestone — it represented 60 years of progress for an institution founded on the simple but powerful idea that higher education should be accessible, that opportunity should be within reach and that students, no matter their path, deserve a chance to succeed.
“Over the decades, that idea has grown, expanded and evolved in ways that we could not have imagined,” Davidson said. “This campaign did not just raise funds; it expanded access, it strengthened programs, it built facilities, it created partnerships, it reimagined possible for us and for our students.
“The momentum that we have built, the belief that we’ve created, the community that we have strengthened — that is what will carry us forward.”
For more information, contact University Advancement.
