The University of Iowa is launching a fundraising effort today which officials say will be the largest in state history. The original campaign began in 1999 with a goal of 750-million dollars, but that goal will change today, according to Steve Sanders at the U-of-I Foundation. He says they’ll announce the goal and the progress, but he says it’s more of an opportunity to showcase the university.Sanders says two events will be held today — the first from 10 A-M to 11:30 at Macbride Hall on the Iowa City campus, where he says “star” faculty will be featured along with lots of “intellectual fireworks.”Sanders says the Macbride Hall event will showcase the university’s academic aspect and how it changes everyone’s lives. The event will kick off with a reading by Marvin Bell, Iowa’s Poet Laureate and a faculty member of the U-of-I Writers’ Workshop.The second event is slated to begin at 3 P-M at Hancher Auditorium, where guest speakers will include former Hawkeye football coach Hayden Fry and Leonard Hadley, the recently retired C-E-O of Maytag Corporation.
