Stephen Joel Trachtenberg has been in the GW president1s office for a decade. In that time, the University1s reputation has grown in leaps and bounds – from a night school for Washington-area residents to a nationally ranked, highly regarded institution of higher learning.

Friday, Trachtenberg announced he will stay at GW until at least 2003. One of the main reasons he decided to stay past the millennium is to continue the outstanding success of the Centuries Campaign to raise an additional $220 million for the University1s endowment. Another four-plus years of Trachtenberg1s administration will ensure the University1s continued rise to the top.

The Centuries Campaign was started in 1996 as part of the GW1s 175th anniversary celebration. Its original goal was to raise $300 million by the year 2000. It is 80 percent of the way there and now has targeted $500 million by 2003.

The campaign has been an incredible boost for the University1s endowment. Money from the campaign goes toward funding academic chairs and teaching posts. Several well-known GW faculty members – Steve Roberts, Carl Stern and Jonathan Turley, among others – were hired thanks to revenue from the endowment. The continued increase in the endowment will allow the University to attract other high-quality professors and academics, a boon to both the school1s reputation and students.

Trachtenberg undeniably has made students1 GW degrees worth the $100,000-plus it costs to attend the University. His long-term vision has drastically changed the GW environment in a positive way. The Trachtenberg era has been extremely beneficial to the University and its students. We hope that in his extended stay he will remain as visible and accessible to students as he has been for the first 10 years of his tenure.