$22 Million Ahead Of Goal, Washington College's Five-Year Capital Campaign Tops $94 Million

Chestertown, MD, November 17, 2003 — With just six weeks remaining until the conclusion of the Campaign for Washington's College, more than $94.2 million has been tallied against an original five-year goal of $72 million and is fueling the unprecedented growth of the 221-year-old institution's academic offerings, scholarship programs and facilities.

Recent Campaign successes include $610,000 raised by the Joseph H. McLain Memorial Committee to name the three-story atrium in the new Science Center now under construction, and a bequest of $180,000 from the late alumna Estelle Wesley '37, according to Bill MacIntosh, Vice President for Development and Alumni and Parent Relations. Funds available for the new Science Center from private, governmental and institutional sources now stand at $17 million. Other gifts include contributions to the newly created John S. Toll Society, honoring donors who have pledged to help steer the course set by President Toll with continued support for this year and the following two years.

Under the leadership of Milestone Council Chair Thomas H. Gale, a trustee of the College, members of the Board of Visitors and Governors have responded to a special challenge from Gale and his wife, Barbara, by increasing their gifts to the Campaign 32 percent over the level of their initial commitments. Total gifts from the Board now stand at $26.5 million. A new Gale Challenge pledging a dollar-for-dollar match up to $300,000 by December 31, 2003, has been issued to members of the College's Board, the Milestone Council and former trustees.

Included in the latest fundraising totals are a number of special private and government grants for specific academic projects. Prestigious sources such as the Maryland Historical Trust and the National Science Foundation are supporting projects ranging from the College's archaeology program to faculty-student research on fish behavior.

Arthur Vining Davis Gift Pushes Campaign To $92 Million

Washington College Now $20 Million Ahead of Original Goal

Chestertown, MD, July 16, 2003 — Year-end giving coupled with a $200,000 grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations of Jacksonville, FL, have pushed the Campaign for Washington College to nearly $92 million. With six months remaining, the Campaign is $20 million ahead of the College's original five-year, $72 million campaign goal.
The $200,000 grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations is designated for the new $19 million, 45,000-square-foot campus Science Center currently under construction. Other recent major gifts include $200,000 from the estate of the late Maureen Jacoby, former managing editor of the College's Literary House Press, for internships and scholarships; $50,000 from The Clayton Fund of Houston, TX, for scholarships; and more than $531,000 raised in honor of the late Washington College President Joseph H. McLain for whom the three-story glass atrium in the new Science Center will be named.
“We are very pleased with our progress in the final leg of the Campaign,” said College Trustee Thomas H. Gale, Chair of the Milestone Council, a group charged with taking the Campaign as far as it can go by the end by its completion date of December 31, 2003. “We have the momentum to take this drive, the most successful in the history of the College, to even greater heights with the support of our many alumni, parents and friends.”
Monies raised by the Campaign are specifically dedicated to faculty, campus enhancements, academic programs and scholarships. Since the beginning of the Campaign in September 1998, 15 donors have given $1 million or more to the fund drive, and 105 contributors each have given $100,000 or more.
“The support and goodwill extended to this College has been tremendous,” said Bill MacIntosh, Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs. “More than 11,000 donors have given to the campaign. At an institution our size, each gift, no matter the amount, makes a big impact on individual students' educations and the future directions of their lives.”

Washington College Capital Campaign Poised To Surpass $90 Million

Chestertown, MD, February 27, 2003 — The Campaign for Washington College is close to surpassing $90 million in total funds raised, and has reached $89.2 million as of March 1, 2003—over $17 million raised above the original five-year $72 million goal. With 10 months remaining in the fund drive, the Campaign will continue to raise all it can by its slated completion on December 31, 2003.

The Campaign's recent fundraising successes have been spearheaded by the College's Milestone Council, a group of 22 alumni, trustees and other College supporters convened last fall and chaired by College trustee Thomas H. Gale of Centreville, MD. The Milestone Council has been instrumental in securing several major gifts that push the Campaign closer to the $90 million mark. Significant recent support includes $1.7 million from The Hodson Trust; $500,000 from two anonymous individuals and $300,000 from the Davenport Family Foundation for the College's new science center; $200,000 from The Starr Foundation for scholarships; $100,000 from an anonymous foundation for Geographic Information Systems equipment in the Center for the Environment and Society; and $100,000 from the Thomas H. and Barbara W. Gale Foundation. The College also recently received a $50,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation for teacher education programs conducted by the Center for the Environment and Society in conjunction with the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.

One of the top priorities of the Campaign's Milestone Council during the coming months is funding $19 million for the planned 45,000-square-foot new science center and for renovations to the existing science buildings. In addition to the gifts above, more than $365,000 has been raised for the new building through the work of the Joseph H. McLain Memorial Committee, chaired by former Washington College chemistry professor and alumnus John Conkling '65. The McLain Committee hopes to raise $1 million to name the three-story, glass atrium in the new science center.