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Skidmore College

Creating an even stronger future for Skidmore

September 14, 2020

As Skidmore works to meet today’s short- and long-term challenges, Creating Our Future: The Campaign for Skidmore continues to provide resources to build a creative, collaborative and community-centered present and future for the College.

Since the Campaign kicked off in 2014, alumni, parents and friends have contributed $215 million to provide direct support to Skidmore students and faculty.

Amid the pandemic and economic uncertainty this spring, President Marc C. Conner, along with President Emeritus Philip A. Glotzbach, supported a decision by the Board of Trustees and Campaign Executive Committee to extend the campaign through Dec. 31. This extension offers all donors, including those still considering commitments, the opportunity to contribute at a time more conducive to financial participation.

“Since joining the Skidmore community on July 1, I have been so impressed with the generosity and support of the nearly 27,000 donors who have made gifts and commitments to enhance the experiences and lives of our students. Their investment has helped to fund all aspects of a Skidmore education, and we couldn’t be more grateful,” said President Conner.

The strong support of our alumni, parents, friends, foundations and other organizations is helping us continue to move forward and not only meet the financial challenges that most colleges and universities are currently facing in this unprecedented time, but to position Skidmore to emerge from the pandemic in an even stronger position than before.
Marc C. Conner
President

Support to help meet the campaign’s priorities continues, and the impact of these gifts is felt by our students and faculty every day.

Since the spring, gifts and commitments have included:

  • A significant gift from generous parents — one a trustee — to support the Racial Justice Initiative and diversity, equity and inclusion work more generally. This gift includes a challenge and matching grant for the same purpose.
  • Anonymous parents contributed $50,000 to support Skidmore’s efforts to reopen this fall and to help fund expenses related to being on campus and dealing with the pandemic. This gift combines with a grant from the Fred L. Emerson Foundation in Auburn, New York, to help with opening expenses. This is the Emerson Foundation’s second grant during the campaign: Its original $400,000 matching gift helped raise nearly $1.6 million to construct the Center for Integrated Sciences.
  • The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery has received a $1.5 million grant from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund. The grant will build the Tang’s endowment and expand K-12 and community educational programming throughout the region and beyond. This new grant is the third major gift from the Illumination Fund to support the Tang and the second during the campaign.
  • Alumni and parents responded immediately and eagerly to the unanticipated financial needs of Skidmore students by contributing $90,000 in the first months of the pandemic to the Student Emergency Fund.
  • An $800,000 commitment from a new trustee and her husband will support future construction of a new tennis facility and the Skidmore Fund.  
  • Molly Brister Haley ’64 and her husband Ed Freitag created an endowed fund that supports the Entrepreneurial Artist Initiative, a series of classes, workshops and networking opportunities that she conceived and has supported for a number of years. A prime example of the unique programming that Skidmore can offer, the Initiative provides studio art students with the business skills needed to build a successful career around their passion for art making.
  • Dozens of donors provided close to $2 million — and helped encourage the support of 10,506 alumni, parents and friends — to fund the Glotzbach Scholars, an initiative to provide scholarship support through the Skidmore Fund for 17 students in recognition of the 17 years of service of President Emeritus Philip A. Glotzbach and Marie Glotzbach.

The combined impact of these gifts totals $5.4 million and benefits every student. Tom Wilmot ’99 and Susan Gottlieb Beckerman ’67, trustees and co-chairs of the campaign, noted, “Every day we see the impact of campaign gifts on aspects of Skidmore ranging from CIS and the Tang to financial aid and support for unanticipated necessities associated with reopening this fall. We couldn’t be more grateful and encourage all donors to continue their support, particularly for the Skidmore Fund, which gives the College the resources to fund its most critical priorities every day and to have the flexibility to respond to challenges and opportunities.”

To make a gift or commitment or for more information on campaign priorities, please visit the Creating Our Future website.