Private support includes new cash, cash-equivalent gifts and pledges.
A few decades ago aggressive fund raising was nearly unheard of on campus, but philanthropic support became a necessity with dwindling state funds. Each year an increasing number of the faculty see firsthand the benefits of private support. Kouymjian said that Armenian Studies is dependent on fund raising and that it must use private support to pay the salary and benefits for its secretarial position, as well as other office functions. Gorman said the beginning of this decade marked a substantial decrease in funds allotted to purchase necessary materials for the library. Private support was one of the only avenues the library had to try to make up for this reduction.