Then-Vice President of Alumni Affairs and Development Donella M. Rapier said in 2005 that Harvard’s capital campaign would likely be the largest ever in higher education, “definitely” surpassing the University’s 1999 campaign, which totaled at least $3.4 billion, in current real dollars. At that time, Rapier said at the time that “high level” goals had been set but that dollar amounts for specific initiatives had not been fully determined.

Since that time, however, University officials have taken a fresh look at the priorities.

University-wide capital campaigns offer institutions of higher learning the opportunity to raise large sums of money for long-term initiatives and offer an indication of a university’s priorities.

“I think the genesis of [university-wide campaigns] in many ways was the dawning realization of what we know so well now, which is if you truly want to do the absolute best research and recruit the absolute best students and give them the best experience, you’ve got to think university-wide,” Rogers said.

—Staff writer Gautam S. Kumar gkumar@college.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Zoe A. Y. Weinberg can be reached at zoe.weinberg@college.harvard.edu.