College takes bold initiative public

Author: Derek Schlickeisen

Students who stopped by Saturday's Orange Crush concert in Kenyon Arena may have noticed ways in which the event differed from their usual weekend fare: uniformed catering staff served hot food to guests who at times found themselves mingling in the decked-out gymnasium with administrators, donors and members of the Board of Trustees.

The revelers were in fact catching the tail end of an evening-long launch extravaganza for the College's five-year, $500 million fundraising effort, the "Middlebury Initiative." The day's festivities - following the theme of a "journey," complete with novelty passports for guests - included presentations on student life by organizations like the Sunday Night Group and the Riddim dance company, as well as a formal dinner at which speakers previewed where the school hopes its journey will end.

"We are on our way to becoming the first truly global liberal arts college," wrote President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz in the event passport. "Our new strategic plan is our road map, and the Middlebury Initiative is the vehicle that will take us there."

The $500 million campaign represents not only a record-breaking fundraising commitment, but an attempt to re-brand the College and its many affiliated schools as a unified global entity. The effort comes at a time when Middlebury's rise in nationwide college rankings places the school in a bracket with institutions whose endowments more than double its own on a per-student basis.

"The Middlebury Initiative is about a communications and fundraising plan to help us reach the goals of the Strategic Plan," said Mike Schoenfeld, vice president for College Advancement. "There are many things in the strategic plan that do not require gift support, and those are part of the Middlebury Initiative as well. But our top priorities will absolutely require philanthropic support."

Of the $500 million to be raised, $180 million will increase the endowment to support the gradual replacement of student loans with direct grants. Another $150 million will provide support for the salaries of 25 new faculty to keep down average class sizes and allow for more student-faculty research opportunities. The Strategic Plan identified the two goals as the most important for the College.

The remaining $170 million will finance building and renovation on campus and provide for an "institutional flex fund" to pay for speakers, seminars and other unforeseen expenses.

While the journey towards the $500 million mark may seem like a daunting one, the atmosphere at Saturday's kick-off dinner was not one of setting out, but rather of arrival. And the president and trustees did have something to celebrate - after three years of planning, the campaign has already secured 47 perecent of its goal at $234 million. Schoenfeld explained that major capital campaigns tend to hope for around 40 percent of their total by the time they are officially launched.

"The reason we had this event here at Middlebury is that it was really an insiders' celebration of how far we have already come," he said. "This was a family-style launch of the Initiative for those who have gotten us to this point in our planning, and in the incredible amount of money we have been able to raise so far."

Rather than simply celebrating their fundraising work, however, those present for Saturday's festivities were also looking to mark what they hope will be the College's arrival at a new, higher level for a liberal arts institution. In her opening speech for the launch dinner, Class of 2007 salutatorian Astri von Arbin Ahlander '07 noted the "exceptional" nature of the College's many educational opportunities, and Liebowitz wrote in his passport remarks that Middlebury will "define the future for liberal arts colleges in an increasingly interconnected world."

Yet together with the success so far in achieving the Initiative's financial goals have come signs that the re-branding portion of the campaign may prove more challenging. Despite the College's rising academic reputation and the strength of its affiliated schools, Liebowitz said in an e-mail that he believes the complete nature of what Middlebury has to offer is "not fully understood."

"Despite about 150 Middlebury undergraduates going to the Language Schools each summer, how many students and faculty know that they award 175 M.A. degrees a year?" he asked. "Or that they are the most well-known part of the College around the world? How many know that the Bread Loaf School of English is the largest graduate English literature program in the country?"

Linking the many respected institutions that comprise the greater Middlebury - from the C.V. Starr Schools Abroad to the Bread Loaf School to the Monterey Institute for International Studies - will, as Liebowitz acknowledged, require more work.

Students at the College took issue with a part of that linking effort earlier this year when they snubbed an attempt to make the "Middlebury leaf" logo and its "Liberal Arts, Global Action" motto the official representation of the College. According to Vice President for Communications Michael McKenna, the logo in a single image attempted to represent Middlebury's "roots in Vermont and our strength in environmental affairs" and to symbolically point outwards "toward the four points of the compass, symbolizing [Middlebury's] aspirations to be the global liberal arts college for the 21st century."

It never got the chance, however - at least not on the scale the College had hoped for when it announced the new image. After a Facebook protest and numerous e-mail complaints, the logo was applied only to materials printed for the Middlebury Initiative itself.

"The theme of 'Liberal Arts, Global Action' began to tell the story of the great ripple effect Middlebury creates in the world," McKenna explained at the time. "No logo ever defines an institution. It is up to what the institution is and does that gives meaning to the logo. The place defines what the graphic means, not the other way around. I think over time the Middlebury Leaf, always linked with the word Middlebury, would have become a symbol that people would have actually liked."

Time will likely make clear whether the Initiative will represent merely a significant fundraising campaign or something more meaningful in terms of defining the school's place in the world. For now, however, the most measurable indicator of success will be the rate at which the College moves towards accomplishing the financial goals that will support the programs upon which its reputation is based. Schoenfeld spoke plainly of the need to hit the $500 million mark within the five-year timetable.

"The fundraising component of the Middlebury Initiative is a clear five-year goal, so we absolutely hope to have it raised by June 30, 2012," he said.