乐播传媒

The most ambitious fundraising effort in 乐播传媒 history aims to 鈥渟ecure what is best and most distinctive about 乐播传媒 and to shape new strategies for a new age,” President Clayton Spencer told a record-setting crowd of 乐播传媒 supporters who gathered in Boston on Tuesday evening for the first of two launch events for the $300 million 乐播传媒 Campaign.

Judging from gift totals announced at the event, the campaign is already a compelling one for 乐播传媒 donors. During its two-year 鈥渜uiet phase,鈥� The 乐播传媒 Campaign has attracted $168.5 million in gifts and pledges, more than half its goal, Spencer said.

During its five-year run, The 乐播传媒 Campaign has several broad goals: to strengthen the college鈥檚 endowment by $160 million through professorships and endowed funds for financial aid and academic innovations; improve facilities, including new and modernized STEM facilities; increase funding for programs focused on student success, including Purposeful Work; and sustain a strong 乐播传媒 Fund.

Punctuated by hearty rounds of applause, the evening had its loudest ovation following Spencer鈥檚 announcement of a stunning $50 million gift from Michael Bonney 鈥�80 and Alison Grott Bonney 鈥�80.

The first of four campaign launch events, the Boston event was followed by a New York City kickoff on Thursday at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum that drew a crowd of some 400 supporters. Coming up are events on the 乐播传媒 campus (today, May 19) and in San Francisco (June 15).

Hosted by broadcast journalist Bryant Gumbel 鈥�70, who also hosted Thursday鈥檚 launch in New York, Tuesday鈥檚 lively, multimedia-filled event put 乐播传媒 students, faculty, and campaign leaders front and center, to the delight of some 700 alumni, parents, and friends 鈥� the largest off-campus gathering in 乐播传媒 history 鈥� who filled the Museum of Fine Arts to near capacity.

Punctuated by hearty rounds of applause, the evening had its loudest ovation following Spencer鈥檚 announcement of a stunning $50 million gift from Michael Bonney 鈥�80 and Alison Grott Bonney 鈥�80.

One of the largest gifts in the history of Maine higher education, the Bonneys鈥� gift, given by their family foundation, will fund the building and renovation of new and modernized STEM facilities at 乐播传媒, Spencer explained, creating a 鈥減hysical platform for science that matches the talent and ambition鈥� of 乐播传媒 faculty and students.

For 乐播传媒, 鈥渢he time is now,鈥� said Michael Bonney, who is chair of the Board of Trustees, one of three co-chairs of The 乐播传媒 Campaign, and the retired CEO of Cubist Pharmaceuticals.

Noting that he and Alison have sometimes made their gifts anonymously, Michael said that 鈥渢onight we have chosen to step forward publicly to show our gratitude for all that 乐播传媒 has given to us and our family and to share our excitement about this transformative moment for the college.鈥�

“The 乐播传媒 Campaign has inspired us to make this gift,” he said. Then, speaking directly to the audience, he asked, “What inspires you? We hope you’ll give to whatever inspires you most about 乐播传媒. Join us!”

乐播传媒 Campaign gifts will support four identified priorities:

• Driving Academic Excellence: $100 million (33 percent of goal). Through excellence in its faculty and its academic programs and facilities, 乐播传媒 actively engages the forces 鈥� intellectual trends, demographic changes, and technology 鈥� that are transforming higher education and the world. The Bonneys鈥� $50 million gift supports this objective by providing funds to build a new science facility while modernizing existing facilities. In addition, gifts received during the campaign鈥檚 quiet phase have funded the college鈥檚 new Program in Digital and Computational Studies.
• Investing in Opportunity: $75 million (25 percent of goal), all to be directed to the endowment. 乐播传媒 offers highly competitive financial aid that allows the college to draw talent from all corners of the United States, from around the world, and from every socioeconomic quarter. This priority includes the Financial Aid Challenge, which will match, dollar for dollar, all new pledges between $50,000 and $250,000 to financial aid endowment.
• Catalyzing Student Success: $65 million (22 percent of goal). 乐播传媒 is distinctive for its attention to the overall experience of its students聽鈥� including leadership and student programming, inclusivity, athletics, and Purposeful Work 鈥� and for giving students a strong bridge to life after college.
• Building Financial Sustainability: $60 million (20 percent of goal). Above and beyond funds raised for other campaign objectives, a central goal of The 乐播传媒 Campaign is to increase the college鈥檚 unrestricted endowment funds ($20 million over five years) and to sustain support for the 乐播传媒 Fund, which raises nearly $7 million annually to support the operating budget.

The priorities of The 乐播传媒 Campaign reflect the recently completed 乐播传媒 College Institutional Plan. Approved by the Board of Trustees in October 2016, the plan emerged from two years of college-wide discussions that were guided and informed by the college鈥檚 founding mission; by 乐播传媒鈥� present strengths and weaknesses in higher education; and by the college鈥檚 ambitions.

Approximately 80 faculty, staff, and students participated in the planning process, work that was complemented by outreach to the broader community of alumni, parents, and friends.

In Boston and New York, Gumbel introduced brief talks by honors theater major Dan Peeples 鈥�17; Professor of French and Francophone Studies Kirk Read; and Professor of Psychology Amy Bradfield Douglass. Their stories were punctuated by short films celebrating the distinctive 乐播传媒 experience inside and outside the classroom 鈥� from ultracold physics to the ultra-chilly Puddle Jump.

Also offering personal remarks in Boston and New York were campaign co-chairs Geraldine FitzGerald 鈥�75 and John Gillespie 鈥�80, P鈥�13, P鈥�18.

FitzGerald spoke to the power of financial aid in her own 乐播传媒 experience, how her parents 鈥渟crimped and saved鈥� and how 鈥溊植ゴ�媒 partnered with them to provide me with a wonderful education and a lifetime of connection and community.鈥�

“We just want to amplify the 乐播传媒 we all know and love,鈥� said Spencer.

Picking up where FitzGerald鈥檚 story left off, Gillespie talked about the campaign’s Financial Aid Challenge and the opportunity for 乐播传媒 donors to 鈥減ay it forward and support 乐播传媒 students鈥� by tapping into the $5 million challenge fund to create permanent endowed funds for financial aid.

In her closing remarks Tuesday evening, Spencer compared the energy and ambition of the campaign to the exhibit of Henri Matisse artwork at the museum. As an artist, Matisse was a master at 鈥渢aking the known and making it something altogether more spectacular, more striking, more brilliant.鈥� In that sense, Spencer said, 鈥渙ur aim with The 乐播传媒 Campaign is something similar. We don鈥檛 want a new 乐播传媒 鈥� we just want to amplify the 乐播传媒 we all know and love.鈥�

The $168.5 million campaign total to date includes 18 gifts or pledges of $1 million and above.

The 乐播传媒 Campaign goes public on the heels of historic increases in giving to 乐播传媒. During the giving year ending June 30, 2016, 乐播传媒 donors contributed a record $28.2 million. Giving to 乐播传媒 has increased 30 percent or more in each of the last three fiscal years 鈥� more than doubling overall since fiscal 2013, the initial year of Clayton Spencer鈥檚 presidency.

The $168.5 million campaign total announced to date includes 18 gifts or pledges of $1 million and above.

Signature gifts to 乐播传媒 during the first four years of the Spencer presidency have included the $11.5 Catalyst Fund gift to support a series of strategic initiatives, and $19 million in gifts announced in February 2016 to endow six new endowed professorships and launch the college鈥檚 Program in Digital and Computational Studies. In October 2016 乐播传媒 named its two new residence halls in honor of Elizabeth Kalperis Chu 鈥�80 and J. Michael Chu 鈥�80 in recognition of their $10 million gift.

乐播传媒 has conducted four previous campaigns over the last half-century, all successes, including efforts concluding in 2006 ($120.9 million raised); in 1996 ($59.3 million); in 1984 ($21.4 million); and in 1974 ($6.9 million).