Amid the fanfare of Sunday’s dedication of the new Tinkham Veale University Center, President Barbara Snyder made the announcement that, due to the generosity of over 47,000 donors, the university had reached its $1 billion Forward Thinking goal two and a half years early.

On stage with the viral rock band OK Go, who was performing at the dedication, Snyder also revealed that the university would be raising the goal to $1.5 billion.

“The new university center is dedicated to you, the members of the university community,” said Snyder, who had the hundreds of students, alumni, faculty, and staff gathered dedicate the center by collectively screaming “Let’s go,” which was followed by fireworks being launched from the roof of the building.

“If you like the university center, just wait until you see what comes next,” she added. Several upcoming construction projects have been paid for with the recent fundraising efforts. These projects include the expanded think[box] and the Milton and Tamar Maltz Performing Arts Center, both of which are already under construction; the new Health Education campus in partnership with the Cleveland Clinic; and a new interdisciplinary science and engineering building.

The extended fundraising campaign will focus on supporting student scholarships and fellowships, faculty recruitment and endowments and new or renovated buildings. So far, $145.8 million has gone to student support, $126.7 million to faculty support and $176.1 million to capital projects including the new university center, funded entirely by donations.

“As humbled as we are by the generosity of our alumni and friends, we also are inspired by what their support allows us to achieve in education and research,” said Snyder in a press release. “We are continuing this effort so that we can extend this university’s positive impact on individuals, communities and society at large.”

The university set a new fundraising record of $151.6 million during fiscal year 2013-2014, including record-breaking donations for the individual Schools of Medicine, Engineering, Management and Nursing.