{"id":107666,"date":"2017-05-16T19:00:06","date_gmt":"2017-05-16T23:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=107666"},"modified":"2024-07-08T13:46:19","modified_gmt":"2024-07-08T17:46:19","slug":"bates-college-launches-300-million-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2017\/05\/16\/bates-college-launches-300-million-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Historic $300 million Bates Campaign aims to ‘secure what is best and most distinctive about Bates and to shape new strategies for a new age’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The most ambitious fundraising effort in Bates history aims to \u201csecure what is best and most distinctive about Bates and to shape new strategies for a new age,” President Clayton Spencer told a record-setting crowd of Bates supporters who gathered in Boston on Tuesday evening for the first of two launch events for the $300 million Bates Campaign.<\/p>\n

Judging from gift totals announced at the event, the campaign is already a compelling one for Bates donors. During its two-year \u201cquiet phase,\u201d The Bates Campaign has attracted $168.5 million in gifts and pledges, more than half its goal, Spencer said.<\/p>\n

\"President<\/a>

President Spencer reveals the $300 million goal of The Bates Campaign in Boston. (Jared Charney Photography for Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

During its five-year run, The Bates Campaign has several broad goals: to strengthen the college\u2019s endowment by $160 million through professorships and endowed funds for financial aid and academic innovations; improve facilities, including new and modernized STEM facilities; increase funding for programs focused on student success, including Purposeful Work<\/a>; and sustain a strong Bates Fund.<\/p>\n

Punctuated by hearty rounds of applause, the evening had its loudest ovation following Spencer\u2019s announcement of a stunning $50 million gift from Michael Bonney \u201980 and Alison Grott Bonney \u201980.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The first of four campaign launch events,<\/a> the Boston event was followed by a New York City kickoff on Thursday at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum that drew a crowd of some 400 supporters. Coming up are events on the Bates campus (today, May 19) and in San Francisco (June 15).<\/p>\n

Hosted by broadcast journalist Bryant Gumbel \u201970, who also hosted Thursday\u2019s launch in New York, Tuesday\u2019s lively, multimedia-filled event put Bates students, faculty, and campaign leaders front and center, to the delight of some 700 alumni, parents, and friends \u2014 the largest off-campus gathering in Bates history \u2014 who filled the Museum of Fine Arts to near capacity.<\/p>\n

Punctuated by hearty rounds of applause, the evening had its loudest ovation following Spencer\u2019s announcement of a stunning $50 million gift from Michael Bonney \u201980 and Alison Grott Bonney \u201980<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Mike<\/a>

Mike Bonney ’80 and Alison Bonney ’80 take the stage to talk about their $50 million gift to Bates during Tuesday night’s Bates Campaign kickoff in Boston. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

One of the largest gifts in the history of Maine higher education, the Bonneys\u2019 gift, given by their family foundation, will fund the building and renovation of new and modernized STEM facilities at Bates, Spencer explained, creating a \u201cphysical platform for science that matches the talent and ambition\u201d of Bates faculty and students.<\/p>\n

For Bates, \u201cthe time is now,\u201d said Michael Bonney, who is chair of the Board of Trustees, one of three co-chairs of The Bates Campaign<\/a>, and the retired CEO of Cubist Pharmaceuticals.<\/p>\n

Noting that he and Alison have sometimes made their gifts anonymously, Michael said that \u201ctonight we have chosen to step forward publicly to show our gratitude for all that Bates has given to us and our family and to share our excitement about this transformative moment for the college.\u201d<\/p>\n

“The Bates Campaign has inspired us to make this gift,” he said. Then, speaking directly to the audience, he asked, “What inspires you? We hope you’ll give to whatever inspires you most about Bates. Join us!”<\/p>\n

Bates Campaign gifts will support four identified priorities:<\/p>\n