Challenge from Fulton Nets $100,000 for Cronkite

The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication raised more than $100,000 as the result of a fundraising challenge from Phoenix-area home builder and philanthropist Ira A. Fulton and his wife, Mary Lou. The Fultons initiated their second Fulton Challenge for Arizona State University on Feb. 1. With the challenge, 12 ASU units set fundraising goals to meet by June 30. Under the terms of the challenge, if the colleges met their goals, the Fultons would match those amounts with an investment of their own. Donations that qualified for the match were gifts of up to $5,000 made to the college’s Dean’s Investment Funds by ASU alumni, faculty, staff, students and parents. The Cronkite School raised more than $50,000 during the challenge, all of which was matched by the Fultons. “The Fulton Challenge provides the Cronkite School with critical funds that will support scholarships, guest lectures and equipment purchases, all of which will directly benefit our students,” Dean Christopher Callahan said. “We would like to thank Mary Lou and Ira Fulton for their generosity. The Fulton Challenge was a fantastic way for the school to launch its fundraising outreach to our alumni, faculty and staff.” More than 200 people made donations to the Cronkite School’s Fulton Challenge. The Fultons, who have committed more than $160 million to the ASU during the past four years, created the Fulton Challenge to inspire others to make philanthropic gifts to ASU, creating a culture of giving to the school by its alumni, faculty and staff. The Cronkite School, named in honor of the longtime CBS news anchor in 1984, is a leading professional journalism school with about 1,800 undergraduate and master’s students.