Bowdoin Campaign Seeks $250 Million for College

The Bowdoin Campaign

Story posted November 10, 2006

On Friday, November 10, 2006, the Bowdoin College Board of Trustees and President Barry Mills officially launched "The Bowdoin Campaign" to raise $250 million for the College over five years. It is believed to be the largest fundraising campaign in Maine history.

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"This campaign is a bold effort that will ensure the preeminence of Bowdoin College into the future while underscoring our conviction that a liberal arts education is the very best way to shape informed and responsible citizens of our society and the world," said Mills. "The major goal is to raise additional endowment to enhance what is already a superior academic program by adding faculty and by focusing resources on the faculty/student experience, faculty scholarship, and the intellectual life of the College."

Campaign Co-chairs and Bowdoin Trustees Deborah Jensen Barker of Short Hills, N.J., a member of the Class of 1980, and Robert F. White of Weston, Mass., Class of 1977, announced that more than $147 million has already been committed to the campaign, which began its "quiet phase" on July 1, 2004, and will conclude June 30, 2009.

Barker, a longtime mentor and partner at New Jersey's Student/Partner Alliance, and White, managing director at Bain Capital in Boston, head a national Campaign Steering Committee that will oversee the work of hundreds of campaign volunteers throughout the world.

William A. Torrey, Bowdoin's Senior Vice President for Planning and Administration & Chief Development Officer, is directing the campaign for the College. "Bowdoin has an impressive history of success in achieving its campaign goals," Torrey said. "Working together with our loyal and generous alumni, parents, and friends, I have every confidence that we will do so again."

Since its founding in 1794, Bowdoin has conducted 17 major capital campaigns, including this one. The Bowdoin Campaign seeks nearly double the amount raised in the last major campaign, The New Century Campaign, which concluded in 1998 and raised $136 million for the College.

Specific campaign objectives include distinct needs in five main areas: financial aid (31%), academic affairs (28%), annual giving (17%), student affairs (13%), and building projects (11%).

I. Financial Aid: $76.55 million

II. Academic Affairs: $69.5 million

• Enrichment of the Academic Program ($32.5 million)

  • $30 million to endow new faculty positions
  • 2 million to bridge for endowed positions
  • 0.5 million to fund new curriculum initiatives


• Faculty Career Development ($10 million)

  • 4 million to fund enhanced sabbatical leave
  • 5 million to fund supplemental leaves
  • 1 million for engagement with professional peers


• Enrichment of Intellectual Community ($12 million)

  • 10 million for an Institute for Coastal Studies
  • 2 million for an Interdisciplinary Institute


• Serving the Common Good ($2 million)

  • 2 million for a Center for Social Research


• Enhancement of Centers of Academic Excellence ($10 million)

  • 2 million for the Quantitative Skills Program
  • 0.75 million for transition programs
  • 2.25 million for student research fellowships
  • 2 million for Library resources
  • 2 million for the Museum of Art
  • 1 million for the educational technology program


• Renovation of Academic Spaces ($3 million)

III. Annual Giving: $43.1 million

IV. Student Affairs: $32.75 million

• Residential and Community Life ($24 million)

  • 2 million to expand student/faculty interaction outside the classroom
  • 5 million to expand the fitness center
  • 15 million to build a new hockey rink
  • 2 million to endow the Career Planning Center


• Leadership Development ($3 million)

  • 1 million for Bowdoin Outing Club leadership training
  • 1 million for Bowdoin Outing Club trips program
  • 1 million for Residential Life leadership development


• Serving The Common Good ($5.75 million)

  • 3 million to endow the Center for the Common Good
  • 2.5 million to endow summer internships
  • 0.25 million to endow alternative spring break service projects

V. Building Projects: $28.1 million

  • 15.1 million to build a Recital Hall
  • 8 million toward Walker Art Building renovation
  • 5 million toward construction of Kanbar Hall academic building (complete)

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