In 1972, Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire became the last Ivy League educational institution to admit women into its undergraduate programs. But now alumnae of Dartmouth College are an important focus of an ambitious new fundraising campaign.
As part of the college’s $3 billion Call to Lead fundraising program, Dartmouth is seeking 100 women to contribute $1 million each. During Dartmouth’s last major fundraising push that ended in 2010, only four women contributed $1 million or more.
In addition, women will seek to raise $25 million to renovate Dartmouth Hall, which houses the college’s teacher-scholar education program. The hall’s last major renovation was done in 1935.
The college’s Centennial Circle was established four years and honors women who have made contributions of $100,000 or more to the Dartmouth College Fund. So far, 188 women have joined the Centennial Circle. The goal is to bring this total to 250 by 2019, the 250th anniversary of the college’s founding.
Elizabeth Cogan Fascitelli, a partner at Goldman Sachs, a 1980 graduate of Dartmouth, and a member of the board of trustees who is leading the women’s philanthropy efforts, stated that “we didn’t want to make it easy. We wanted to push ourselves on behalf of Dartmouth. We want the next generation of students, male and female, to know that women and men are equally committed to the power of a Dartmouth education. This initiative is inviting women to come forward, work together, and have impact through philanthropy.”