We are delighted to announce that Jesus College’s 450^th Anniversary Campaign has met its £45 million fundraising goal.

Launched in 2012, Jesus College set out an ambitious plan to raise funds towards four College priority areas: teaching and research, College fabric and environment, student support, and access and outreach. Over the past decade, a great number of alumni and friends have supported the campaign, and in July 2022 we are pleased to announce we reached £45m.

Thanks to this incredible collective achievement from our community, Jesus has been able to enhance the scope of teaching, research and student support at the College in the following ways:

• Funding new bursaries and graduate studentships to reduce financial barriers and create life-changing opportunities for Jesus students.
• Creating new endowed and spend-down Teaching Fellowships to support our brilliant educators and enhance the College fellowship.
• Funding important new research through the creation of Junior Research Fellowships (JRFs) and Career Development Fellowships (CDFs), including exciting new opportunities in Climate Science, Law, and Applied Data Science.
• Endowing our Welsh summer school and creating new opportunities for young learners across Wales and London to experience College life and raise aspirations.

 

Dr Brittany Wellner James, Director of Development, says, “It has been a privilege to play a role in this decade-long campaign for Jesus College. Thanks to our many alumni and friends, we have been able to make some incredible strides in securing support for our wonderful College community. The 450^th Campaign has not only delivered a landmark new building for College, it has also placed us in a more confident position to safeguard the future of teaching and research at Jesus, and has helped us move towards delivering a more equitable experience for all our amazing students. There is a genuine desire to support the place and the people who make Jesus College so special.”

The College’s brand new development – the Cheng Yu Tung Building on Cornmarket – has added a further 7000m² of teaching, accommodation, study, and meeting spaces to our city-centre footprint, including an impressive new Digital Hub, postgraduate facilities, café, raised Fourth Quad and new commercial spaces.  The realisation of this development was thanks in large part to a £15 million lead gift from philanthropist Dr Henry Kar Shun Cheng and his family.  Dr Wellner James says, “This development is a great physical testament to the success of the campaign, and opens an exciting new chapter in how we deliver teaching and share research at Jesus.” The official dedication and opening of the Cheng Kar Shun Digital Hub will take place in Michaelmas Term.

Dr Wellner James concludes, “We hope that the true marker of the success of this campaign will be the beginning of a new and shared philanthropic aim for College. There is still important work to be done to fulfil our academic and access ambitions. We also have in our sights the wish for our historic College to move towards a more sustainable future. These projects are not possible without the steady commitment of our alumni and friends. Thank you to everyone who has been involved in the 450^th Anniversary Campaign, and for your continued support for Jesus College.”

The College plans to publish a full 450^th Anniversary Campaign report later in the year. For more information about the campaign, please visit: https://www.jesuscollegeoxford450.co.uk/