The GW Board of Trustees approved a $200 million expansion of the University1s Centuries Campaign Friday, setting a fund-raising goal of $500 million by 2003.

The Centuries Campaign, which was established as part of the University1s 175th anniversary celebration in 1996, already has raised $230 million for the University, reaching nearly 80 percent of its original goal of $300 million by 2000.

3We need the money because once you1ve decided that you1re going to bring a university to (a high level of quality), you suddenly have the ambition for state-of-the-art equipment and high quality people,? GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg said.

The fund-raising drive already has yielded more than 250 new endowed funds, including chairs and professorships, more than 130 endowed scholarships and prize funds to benefit GW students, and more than 60 endowments for department and program support, according to a University press release.

Michael Worth, vice president for development and alumni affairs, said renovations to academic facilities for the Columbian School of Arts and Sciences and new laboratories for the School of Medicine and Health Sciences have been made possible by the campaign, as well as development of the mid-campus quad.

Worth said the largest donations so far have been from individuals. The largest donor to the University has been the Shapiro Trust, which has given $8 million for endowed chairs in the School of Media and Public Affairs, Elliott School of International Affairs and the GW Law School.

3I think it1s the right strategy for GW,? Worth said. 3We have received increased support but we have a lot of needs.?

The expanded Centuries Campaign will focus on new initiatives such as improvements to the GW Law School, Mount Vernon campus, School of Business and Public Management facilities and the Northern Virginia campus initiative, according to literature distributed to the Board of Trustees.

Trachtenberg said law school Dean Michael Young and SBPM Dean Susan Phillips also will help raise funds. He said both deans were required to make a fund-raising commitment as part of their acceptance of the position when they were hired this summer.

3GW1s growing reputation has made it possible to think boldly about the future, requiring our continued efforts to secure the resources necessary to fulfill the University1s commitments as a leading institution of higher education,? Board of Trustees Chair John D. Zeglis said in a release.

Although most universities have fund-raising campaigns like the Centuries Campaign, the campaign1s expansion makes it one of the largest in the nation, Worth said.

Trachtenberg said it will be more beneficial to continue the current campaign than to start a new one after this effort is completed.

3We1re going to have to work, but with a lot of work and a little bit of luck, we can accomplish it,? Trachtenberg said.

No expanded marketing of the campaign is planned, Worth said. GW will continue to raise international funds and increase fund-raising efforts with national foundations.

Trachtenberg said the campaign must be multifaceted.

3We1ve got to proceed on two paths,? he said. 3We must get the serious gifts from heavy hitters and gifts that get alumni and friends of the University engaged, whatever their capacity is.?

He said current students will see tangible results from the campaign in the future.

3They will be able to bask in the sense that the University has moved forward and has enhanced the value of their degree and created better educational opportunities for contemporary students,? Trachtenberg said.

He said the additional funds will help the University accomplish its objectives for the future.

3The goal is to bring together the best faculty and students you can and let them loose on each other,? Trachtenberg said. 3The parallel to that is giving them the resources.?