Hamilton Gazetteer / Entities / Bicentennial Initiatives

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Bicentennial Initiatives

Overview

The Bicentennial Initiatives is a $117 million capital campaign launched publicly by Hamilton College in December 2010, timed to approach Hamilton’s 2012 bicentennial. The campaign organized fundraising under three thematic pillars — access, creativity, and opportunity — and funded need-blind admission, new arts facilities, and the Annual Fund. It was the largest fundraising campaign in Hamilton’s history to that point.

Key Facts

Total goal: $117 million Launched publicly: December 3, 2010 (1812 Leadership Circle Weekend, New York City) Three pillars: Access ($40 million), Creativity ($35 million), Opportunity ($30 million + $12 million donor interests)

Relevance to Research

The Bicentennial Initiatives represent the culmination of strategic planning under President Joan Hinde Stewart and (briefly) President David Wippman. The campaign had been in quiet phase before the public launch in December 2010 and was still ongoing through at least 2011.

Access pillar: A $3 million donation allowed Hamilton to implement need-blind admission in March 2010 — prior to the campaign’s public launch. The campaign’s $40 million access goal was designed to permanently sustain need-blind admissions by endowing the necessary $2 million in annual aid funding. (Spectator, August 20, 2011)

Creativity pillar: The $35 million creativity allocation targeted three major arts facilities projects: (1) the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, described as a “teaching laboratory” and open archive/gallery; (2) a new theater complex with seminar and performance spaces, costume shops, and dressing rooms; and (3) the Studio for Trans-media Arts and Related Studies (STARS), an interdisciplinary space for videographers, artists, musicians, dancers, actors, poets, and scientists. Faculty noted that plans for new arts facilities had been conceived approximately ten years earlier under President Eugene Tobin. (Spectator, January 27, 2011; Spectator, August 20, 2011)

Opportunity pillar: $30 million earmarked for unrestricted contributions to the Annual Fund, plus $12 million for donor-directed interests.

The campaign represented a significant step up from Hamilton’s prior major fundraising: the New Century Campaign (1996–2001) had raised $108 million. (Spectator, December 10, 2004)

Open Questions