The Centennial Circle of Dartmouth Alumnae was founded in 2014 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of The Dartmouth College Fund. The group raised at least $100,000 from more than 100 alumnae of the college that established an endowment for need-based scholarships for undergraduate women at Dartmouth.
Now in anticipation of 250th anniversary of the college’s founding, the college’s Centennial Circle of Dartmouth Alumnae wants to increase its membership from the current 153 members to 250 members. Their goal is to raise at least $7.5 million each year.
The impact of the Centennial Circle on overall contributions to The Dartmouth College Fund has been dramatic. In 2016, 31 percent of all contributions to the fund were from women, up from 22 percent in 2012. Some 20 percent of all gifts to the fund of at least $100,000 in 2016 came from women. In 2012, the figure was 4 percent.
Catherine Craighead Briggs, the co-founder of the Centennial Circle stated that “Dartmouth women are demonstrating the power of what we can do together on behalf of students. This is a major collective effort – that’s what makes the circle unique.”
Below is a video about the Centennial Circle.