Business View Magazine | April 2021

159 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE APRIL 2021 that encourage physical, relational, and spiritual growth. “We’ve got a $24.5 million goal,” says Smith, “and we’re about 50 percent of the way there. We have many generous donors who are helping to fund this campaign.” On the Florida campus, they’ve built The Commons, a $4.5 million investment that’s a combination cafeteria, social space, meeting space, and café. On the Tennessee campus, funds were allocated to create an impressive 45-acre Athletics and Recreation Complex (ARC) which includes an 86,000-square-foot facility with an additional 30 acres including soccer, softball, and baseball fields, six tennis courts, a walking trail, greenspace, and a cross-country course. “In all, it’s the largest fundraising campaign we’ve ever done,” says Smith. “We’re in those buildings and utilising them already, and they’ve been a great asset to us. You can imagine that completing the capital campaign successfully is a high priority.” Beyond the campus borders, JUTN’s Urban Alliance (UA) initiative, launched in 2014, creates even more opportunities for community and social engagement outside of the traditional academic setting. Offering exceptional youth programs involving leadership development, scholarships, and science camps, UA builds strategic bridges between the needs and resources of urban Knoxville and those of the university. “We have an advisory board that’s made up of local Knoxville leaders—politicians, educators, business people, non-profit representatives, and so on,” Smith says. “We have several partnerships through those connections and through the work of the Urban Alliance. One of our strongest and most important is with the Emerald Youth Foundation, Knoxville’s largest urban youth organization, whom we support by staffing their Calling & Career Ministry Center with students from our work-study program. We also like to partner with Project GRAD, an urban-based, educational non-profit.” JOHNSON UNI VERS I TY