About the University of Iowa Center for Advancement


Creating opportunities for everyone to stay engaged is at the core of the university's commitment to advancement. Advancement encompasses all that our alumni and friends do to strengthen the University of Iowa.

Our mission is to advance the University of Iowa through engagement and philanthropy. The UI Center for Advancement was formed by joining the UI Alumni Association and the UI Foundation to better serve our alumni and friends in the state and the region, throughout the country, and around the world.

We are committed to engaging everyone

We are committed to engaging everyone who loves the University of Iowa—alumni, fans, patients, art lovers, students, parents, and friends—through programming, events, and opportunities to give back.

A nonprofit IRC Sec. 501(c)(3) organization, the UI Center for Advancement is an independent organization and the preferred channel for private contributions that benefit all areas of the University of Iowa. Located in the Levitt Center for University Advancement, we are governed by a volunteer board of directors that elects our officers and appoints our leadership. Our work is also guided by our volunteer Alumni Leadership Council, which serves as the university’s alumni advisory body and includes alumni representing areas across campus.

The University of Iowa Center for Advancement is an operational name for the State University of Iowa Foundation.

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

We support the University of Iowa's diversity, equity, and inclusion goals through our work in engagement and philanthropy.

We reflect the culture of our Hawkeye community through inclusivity in our communications, programming, outreach, and workplace and enhance a welcoming and respectful environment for our alumni, donors, friends, and employees.

Iowa Magazine
Explore the latest stories from Iowa Magazine.
Vision

Engage. Inspire.
Advance Iowa.

Core Values
Aspire

We aspire to make the greatest possible impact on the University of Iowa.

Serve

We are committed to exceeding the expectations of everyone we serve.

Lead

We uphold the highest level of integrity and ethical behavior.

Mission

Our mission is to advance the University of Iowa through engagement and philanthropy.

Iowa Stories
Iowa Magazine
Explore the Summer 2020 edition of the Iowa Magazine.
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Hear audio recordings of Fannie Lou Hamer, Stokely Carmichael, and other pioneering activists from the Special Collections archive. Editor's note: In Old Gold, University Archivist David McCartney looks back at the UI's history and tradition through materials housed in University Archives, Department of Special Collections, University of Iowa Libraries. Photo from Eric Morton Civil Rights Papers. Eric Morton in Jackson, Mississippi, 1964. Countless stories reside in the archives' collections. Sometimes the stories, significant and timeless, take on even more urgency in the wake of tragic events. The Eric Morton Civil Rights Papers, for example, tell stories from nearly 60 years ago that resonate strongly today following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died May 25 while in the custody of Minneapolis police. Old Gold first noted Eric Morton's papers in this column in 2018, three years after they arrived in the UI Libraries' Department of Special Collections. Since then, newly unearthed sound recordings in the collection reveal human experiences that all of us must hear and understand. First, though, some background about this intriguing man. During Freedom Summer in the South in 1964, Eric Morton had an important job to do. As materials coordinator for the voter registration project in Mississippi, he oversaw delivery of?information flyers, registration forms, and other materials?across the state, a risky and dangerous undertaking. At the time,?less than 10 percent of Mississippi's adult Black residents were registered to vote, and attempting to do so meant intimidation, physical threats, and even violence perpetrated by white?segregationists. An African American man from Detroit, Morton?(1934?2015)?knew racism all too well in the country that he served as an enlisted member of the U.S. Armed Forces during the Korean War in the early 1950s. He joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC, in 1962, and for the next several years was on the front lines in the Deep South, participating in voter registration drives and other civil rights-related activity. His papers bring to us the exhilaration and pain that the long civil rights movement meant to those who fought bravely for rights that, by any measure, should never have been denied in the first place. One example is a letter Morton received from a family friend whom we know only as "Mrs. Roche," a letter written soon after Morton and UI student Steve Smith were detained by a posse near Canton, Mississippi, the night of July 15, 1964, while delivering materials to Greenwood,?Mississippi: Friday [July 17, 1964] Dear Eric, Please excuse this writing paper, but I am sure you will understand. My ears have been glued to the radio listening to news and when I heard of trucks being stopped and workers being arrested on such ridiculous trumped up charges, my fears for you mounted. Then when Kathleen called and told us of your misfortune, my fears became a reality. It just doesn't seem possible that such conditions could exist in a so-called civilized country. I hope and pray your work will become a reality very soon, not weeks, months, or years from now. Do be careful, cautious, take care of yourself. If you need anything, please let me know. I will try to do what I can. I realize you are very busy, but I would like to hear from you. Lovingly, Mrs. Roche? Along with Mrs. Roche's letter in the collection are spoken words?words on audio recording tape?that bring to life the pain and courage of those advocating for change. In 1963 and 1964, New York attorney Bob Zellner recorded a series of interviews with eight activists in Mississippi and Alabama on behalf of SNCC in an effort to document their experiences. After the SNCC national office in Atlanta closed in 1966, Morton rescued the recording tapes, keeping them in his possession for decades until donating them to the UI Libraries in 2015. Included are interviews with Fannie Lou Hamer, a sharecropper who founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, and a young Stokely Carmichael, whose interview at age 22 may be the earliest known recording of him. Both recount the violence and threats they had recently experienced. The Hamer, Carmichael, and other interviews are now online. Old Gold was honored to meet Mr. Morton and receive his papers on behalf of the UI Libraries. That act of faith?entrusting one's papers to an institution?allows us to remember and reflect and?renew. Especially now. Read more University of Iowa history stories in our Old Gold archive.

The leadership of the University of Iowa Center for Advancement

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