'Cougs Give' drive raises $833,204

Last week, WSU asked its students, alumni and supporters to donate for the annual Cougs Give Day which raises money to support the students, research and service mission of WSU.

This year potential donors were urged to "take the leap" and donate, playing off of Feb. 29 Leap Day. The school also chose to mark the annual fundraiser on Leap Day in honor on the late WSU President Elson S. Floyd, who died last June after a battle with colon cancer. President Floyd's birthday was Feb 29.

During the two-day fundraiser, the school raised $416,602 through 494 donors, exceeding the goal of $400,000. An anonymous donor also pledged to match every dollar given during the fundraiser up to $500,000, and that means the total raised doubled to $833,204. The anonymous donor asked that the dollar for dollar match all go toward the new WSU medical school, set to open in Spokane in the fall of 2017.

The other half of the funds raised will go to the WSU Foundation and be spent as donors directed, according to the Cougs Give website. Many of the donations did not have a specific directive indicated, and in those cases, the funds will be used to provide scholarships, recruit faculty and facilitate student and faculty research.