From These Grounds

President's Letter

by William G. Durden '71, President

October 3, 2011

Dear Dickinsonians: 

When I arrived at Dickinson in 1999, I had several ambitions for the college, which the leadership team and Board of Trustees quickly embraced. They were: to elevate Dickinson’s name recognition and prestige as a top-tier national, liberal-arts college; to recapture its history and intrinsic strengths and make them known internally and externally; to develop a strong institutional identity and an accompanying leadership narrative; to strengthen the operating budget; and to increase the endowment considerably.

I knew that achieving these ambitions would require bolstering significantly Dickinson’s culture of philanthropy by expanding the circle of engaged and committed alumni, parents and friends. To achieve this aim, I vowed that Dickinson would never be out of “campaign mode,” as a more-robust fundraising program would be critical to achieving our strategic goals and fulfilling the still very-relevant guideposts set forth by our founder, Dr. Benjamin Rush.

In October 2006, the college kicked off the $150-million First in America: Fulfilling Our Destiny  capital campaign under the incredible leadership of George and Jennifer Ward Reynolds ’77. The college community came together at Alumni Weekend this June to celebrate the successful conclusion of the campaign.

Even with the added challenge of weathering a global financial crisis and the country’s most challenging economic times since the Great Depression, the First in America campaign inspired many Dickinsonians to make the college a significant beneficiary of their philanthropic investments—and we reached our goal six months early!

If we consider just the last 10 years, the college has raised nearly $200 million—three times more than in any other decade in the college’s history. At a time when many organizations faced shrinking budgets and vanishing contributions, our community stepped forward to make the goals of this campaign a reality.

The impact of the First in America campaign is evident across the campus. It includes the creation of the Rector Science Complex, renovations to Biddle Field, an additional $80 million for the endowment, 70 endowed scholarships, 16 endowed faculty chairs and two directorships, $25 million to support academic programs and student life, and funds to launch the Center for Sustainability Education.

These are incredible advances that directly benefit today’s students. We’ve succeeded in enrolling highly qualified and diverse students, and we have made headway in growing the endowment, which, even with the additional campaign gifts, remains undersized compared to the endowments of our peer and aspirant institutions. As you may know, a robust endowment ensures future financial stability for the college—through good times and bad—permitting more resources to be directed to our students’ education, thus amplifying the college’s distinction and prestige.

The overwhelming response to the First in America campaign confirmed what our senior leadership and the Board of Trustees suspected all along—that this college was ready to advance again to ensure a more financially sound future. Therefore, I am pleased to share that the trustees voted in May to extend the First in America campaign with the goal of raising an additional $150 million during the next six years for a total of $300 million. Serving as co-chairs of this new phase are college trustee Amy Nauiokas ’94 and her husband, Harry Harrison.

Much like the initial phase of the First in America campaign, the projects and initiatives identified as priorities for the second phase—and outlined by Carolyn Yeager, interim vice president for college advancement, on Page 5—have been developed with our undergraduates in mind.

We will continue to focus on enhancing the academic experience by improving not only the quality of a student’s experience inside the classroom, but also a critical and complementary element—the environment outside the classroom. To solidify our place among the most competitive liberal-arts colleges, with which we now compete directly for students, these are essential ambitions.

While we celebrate the success of the most recent campaign, we also pragmatically acknowledge that Dickinson remains one generation behind its competitors, many of which in the last two years have initiated campaigns of $400 million to $500 million. But we are rapidly closing the gap.

We enter this next campaign with a new confidence and proven track record, demonstrating that our alumni, parents and friends are determined to make this college one of their top philanthropic interests. They recognize that with a Dickinson diploma comes an obligation—to give back through volunteer efforts, to promote Dickinson through personal networks and to make meaningful financial contributions.

With renewed enthusiasm and the confidence that our constituents are dedicated and committed, I anticipate the new heights we will achieve by continuing First in America.