Much heartfelt praise was given by University President B. Joseph White to 17 gift donors at this morning’s 72nd annual meeting of the University of Illinois Foundation. The donations total $33.5 million dollars more towards the $2.25 billion the university is raising in its Brilliant Futures Campaign.

“I am absolutely fired up about the University of Illinois,” White said after the financial report of the 2007 fiscal year.

The university is now more than halfway to its goal, with a total donation of more than $1.165 billion dollars. Started in 2003, the Brilliant Futures Campaign is the largest fund raising effort ever by the university and one of the largest attempted by any public university.

Of the $1.165 billion, $834 million is specifically for the Urbana-Champaign campus. Walter Knorr, Chief Financial Officer for the university and treasurer of the Foundation, said the University is well on the way to meeting its goal. Not many universities are in such a position at this stage of the game, he said.

The campaign will last until 2011. After the meeting, members in attendance attended a luncheon at the Illini Union followed by tours of the campus throughout the day.

Check out Monday’s edition of The Daily Illini for the full story.