‘Light This Candle Campaign’ Smashes Its $75 Million Goal, Raises Record $80.1 Million
“It is with great pleasure that I announce that the Monmouth College Light This Candle Campaign has raised over $80 million in current and deferred gifts, exceeding our original goal of $75 million by more than 6%,” said William Goldsborough ’65, national Campaign chair. “The overarching objective of the Campaign was to ensure the future of Monmouth College so it can continue to be an institution committed to helping our students reach their full potential, both in their careers and in service to their communities. Monmouth College remains, and will always be, a special place with a caring, dedicated faculty and staff where our students make lifelong friends.”
A campaign with four objectives: increase scholarships and student financial aid; create more opportunities for faculty and staff; enhance the College’s living-learning environment; and build an even stronger culture of philanthropy.
Goldsborough said that Monmouth achieved a record-setting campaign “only through the generous and engaged base of alumni and friends of the College.”
“A special note of appreciation goes to our vice president for development and college relations, Hannah Maher, and her staff for helping the College set this record,” he said.
Lighting four candles
Monmouth President Clarence R. Wyatt said the record-setting Campaign was made possible thanks to hard work and outstanding leadership of many people.
“On behalf of the students and the families this Campaign will support, I am profoundly grateful to all of the donors to the Campaign and to all the people of Monmouth College who inspired their generosity,” said Wyatt. “I particularly want to thank Campaign Chair Bill Goldsborough, Board of Trustees Chair Mark Kopinski and the entire Board, and Vice President for Development and College Relations Hannah Maher and her staff for their leadership, energy and hard work.”
The Light This Candle Campaign included four objectives: increase scholarships and student financial aid; create more opportunities for faculty and staff support and academic innovation; enhance the College’s living-learning environment by increasing funds for facilities; and build an even stronger culture of philanthropy through a larger annual fund and deferred gift register.
“The goals of non-brick-and-mortar campaigns tend to be the most difficult to achieve, although they are critically important to the long-term health of a college,” he said. “The Monmouth community clearly understood the importance of supporting each of the Campaign’s candles and the role they play in charting the College’s future.”
Campaign’s impact across the College
Wyatt credited the College’s strong sense of mission and a clear strategic plan as major factors that contributed to the Campaign’s remarkable success.
Examples of the Campaign’s successes include adding more than $11 million to more than 120 student scholarships, awards, travel funds and internships; more than $5 million for faculty support and academic innovation; and more than $14 million to enhance the College’s living-learning environment.
Funds were given to establish or expand several endowments, including the Marion Austin Jones Professor of Theatre, the Collier Endowment for Global Engagement, the Wiswell-Robeson Lecture in Agriculture and the Mark Taylor Endowment for Junior Faculty Development. Funds were also added to special programs, including Classics Day, the Rural Teacher Initiative, Scots Term travel, and equipment for engineering, health sciences and physics.
The College also renovated one iconic Grier Hall; built Trubeck Amphitheater, which included an expansion of the Trubeck Fountain Plaza; created the Dahl Labyrinth; installed the Tartan Terrace; restored the Ardell Pipe Organ; and resurfaced the Fighting Scots tennis courts.
The College’s culture of philanthropy expanded by more than $28 million, which included support for the Monmouth Fund, Fighting Scots Society, and the Champion Miller Fund for Student Equity, Inclusion & Community.
The College also doubled the total amount of its deferred commitments by adding more than $21 million to its gift registry.
Navigating challenges
Wyatt said the Campaign’s true success will be realized “over the coming years” by the graduates the College will send into the world to make a difference.
“Tremendous as the dollar totals are and impressive as is the list of objectives supported by those dollars, the true success of the Campaign will be written over the coming years, in how our students and alumni make the world a better place through their lives of service, leadership and achievement,” he said. “American higher education faces tremendous challenges and changes, and Monmouth College is not immune. But because of the Light This Candle Campaign, and all that it signifies and all that it makes possible, Monmouth faces these times with great confidence.