Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience Passes $1 Billion Mark

The Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience reached an important milestone in December 2007, surpassing $1 billion in gifts since its launch in 2002. More than 65 percent of alumni and roughly 66,000 alumni, parents, and friends of the College have invested in the lives of students and faculty with their donations to programs, endowments, the annual fund, and facilities-helping to keep Dartmouth at the leading edge of American higher education.

Zachary Kaufman '08 (right) with his benefactor Dick Foley '60 at the Scholar Luncheon last fall, where Kaufman delivered an address. Not pictured is Dick's wife, Massy Safai, who is also a benefactor. (photo by Laura Decapula)

Following a record fund-raising month in December, the campaign had raised $1.012 billion as of Dec. 31 and is on pace to achieve its $1.3 billion goal by Dec. 31, 2009. It is the largest fund-raising effort in Dartmouth history, embracing the strategic objectives of the undergraduate and graduate programs in the arts and sciences as well as the Tuck School of Business, Thayer School of Engineering, and Dartmouth Medical School.

Campaign gifts have had a measurable impact on nearly every aspect of a Dartmouth education.

"We have not come to Dartmouth for a degree. We've come to find our passions, to grow as world leaders," said Zachary Kaufman '08 in a recent speech to scholarship students and their benefactors. "None of my own self-discovery would have been possible without support from friends, faculty, and the generous donors who have invested in my Dartmouth experience."

Kaufman's studies led him to Nicaragua as a sophomore to work as a rural health translator, and to the Dominican Republic for an honors thesis on adolescent HIV prevention in migrant villages. Selected in 2007 as one of 65 Harry S. Truman Scholars nationwide, he aspires to become a leader in international public health. Donor support "makes it possible for us to make the most of ourselves," he said.

The campaign is focused on meeting dozens of priorities in four areas: the academic enterprise, residential and campus life, financial aid, and the current student experience through annual giving. Achievements to date:

Fifteen professorships
Three teaching and research facilities (MacLean Engineering Sciences Center, Kemeny Hall and Haldeman Center, with the Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center, a new visual arts center, and the Koop Medical Science Complex currently in planning or design)
Endowed coaching positions, Floren Varsity House, Burnham Soccer Facility, and broad-based support for dozens of sports
The Class of 1953 Commons and a replacement for Thayer dining hall
Student leadership programs
Community service partnerships
The Berry, Bildner, Byrne II, Fahey, Goldstein, McLane, Rauner, and Thomas residence halls

Financial aid has achieved $93 million in new endowments against a goal of $150 million, enabling 132 new undergraduate scholarships per year, while the Dartmouth College Fund has achieved record-setting results throughout the campaign.

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