The Golden Pledge program is having an effect for the University of Iowa.

According to a university press release, since UI President Sally Mason announced the program in late October 2012, the university and the UI Foundation have received more than $2 million in gift commitments.

The program is designed to match the payout from new, privately funded, endowed scholarships of $100,000 or more through 2017.

One alumnus who graduated in 1969 saw the program as an opportunity to endow an accounting scholarship in his name.

“I have always had in the back of my mind the idea to fund my own scholarship,” Ira White said in the release. “Even though I have been donating $1,000 per year to the Accounting Department for several years, the endowed scholarship was still a goal of mine. Last June, my wife died unexpectedly from an accident in our home. It made me realize that life is short, and I need to get this scholarship endowed.”