Hiram College has launched the public phase of its $40 million dollar fundraising campaign, a boutique campaign aimed at advancing The New Liberal Arts™.
According to Vice President of Development and Alumni Jennifer Schuller, “we are using the ‘boutique label’ to signal that the effort is not comprehensive of Hiram’s overall fundraising efforts. The college president, my team, and I will continue to secure gifts outside the campaign for the unrestricted annual fund, the endowment, and more.”
Faculty, staff, donors, alumni and friends of the College joined President Lori Varlotta, Ph.D. and Board of Trustees Chair Dean Scarborough ‘77 at a 70-person kick-off event last week. The event was hosted at the house of Trustee James Graham ‘88 and David Dusek, with catering underwritten by Trustee Anthony Payvialas.
Titled “Vision 20/20,” the campaign asks alumni and friends to support one of four key areas: Technology, Campus Improvements, Branding and Marketing, and the Comprehensive Academic Redesign. The bipartite goal is to raise $20 million in cash and $20 million in pledges by June 30, 2020.
Gifts will be earmarked to support new majors, minors, and programs associated with the academic redesign; recently required experiential learning opportunities; co-curricular offerings meant to bolster student recruitment and retention; facility and technological enhancements, and faculty and staff professional development. To date, the campaign has secured nearly $11 million dollars in cash and another $8 million dollars in pledges and newly documented will commitments.
“Hiram is a college on the move, with forward-thinking faculty and staff and a relevant curriculum,” Dr. Varlotta said in her remarks during the launch event. “We have deep appreciation for our nearly 170-year history and a clear vision of our place in the 21st-century. This is why we named our campaign Vision 20/20. We expect to secure gifts that continue to bring our vision to life for generations to come.”
In April, the College announced that Scarborough and wife Janice Bini had gifted $6 million in support of the College’s goal to become a national model for the New Liberal Arts. In May, the Board of Trustees approved a series of academic redesign recommendations that included adding majors like Sport Management, International Studies, and Criminal Justice and organizing emerging and existing majors into one of five schools: School of Arts, Humanities & Culture; the Scarborough School of Business & Communication; School of Education, Civic Leadership & Social Change; School of Health & Medical Humanities; and the School of Science & Technology.
For more information about Hiram College’s Vision 20/20 Campaign, visit www.hiram.edu/vision2020. Gifts can also be made in support one of the many funding opportunities outlined by contacting the Office of Alumni Relations and Development at 800-705-5050.
by College Relations
