It was five years ago when members of the UF Medical Alumni Board of Directors put forth a challenge to their fellow alumni to support the university’s plan to build a new medical education facility — and the Alumni Challenge was born.
“It’s crucial that we raise the seed money needed to get this important project off the ground,” said Jason Rosenberg, MD ’95, at the 2008 meeting. The goal was to enlist graduates to pledge at least $5,000 a year over five years for the new building fund.
“Our Alumni Challenge participants created the groundswell and gathered the energy — and critical funding — that kept this dream alive in the medical school through several generations of leadership cycles,” said Michael L. Good, dean of the College of Medicine, during the Nov. 22 groundbreaking ceremony for the George T. Harrell, MD, Medical Education Building.
With 52 participants — including several alumni who supported the Challenge twice — and almost $1.2 million raised, the Alumni Challenge came to a close Dec. 31. A final push to the Challenge began in September with the Alumni Class Challenge, and we are grateful to all those who answered this call.
To stay up to date on the construction of the Harrell Medical Education Building and to learn how you can support the future of UF medical education by naming a special space in the new building, visit HowWeLearn.ufl.edu or email drgator@health.ufl.edu.
