The Tuck School of Business officially launched its fundraising campaign, Investing in Excellence: A Campaign for Tuck, late last week at a party in Manhattan. The campaign to raise $110 million for Tuck is part of the larger Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience, which plans to raise a total of $1.3 billion for the College by 2009.
Thursday's campaign kickoff party, open to all Tuck students and alumni, was held at the SkyClub at the top of the MetLife building in Manhattan. It is the first and most formal in a series of events that will be held across the country to encourage Tuck alumni to contribute to the campaign.
While Dartmouth officially launched the Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience in November, Tuck campaign organizers hoped to reach their immediate audience with this event, according to Andy Steele Tu'79, the executive director of development and alumni services at Tuck.
"We decided to have our own campaign-launch party to announce our piece of the Dartmouth campaign," Steele said.
The evening consisted of a cocktail party and numerous speakers, with approximately 220 guests in attendance. Speakers included Tuck Dean Paul Danos and Senior Associate Dean Paul Hanson, among other administrators. Fred Whittemore '53 Tu'54 also spoke, along with a few Tuck professors and four students chosen by the M.B.A. Program Office.
While $110 million may sound like a lofty goal, $54 million has already been raised. Although the official campaign was only launched in November, money collected in the past two years is being counted toward the campaign.
The overall Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience is doing comparably well, having already raised over $450 million, according to Steele. Both the Thayer School for Engineering and the Dartmouth Medical School are also currently involved in fundraising as part of the College's larger capital campaign.
Money raised for Tuck will support scholarship, faculty, facilities, the M.B.A. curriculum and general operating support. About 20 percent of the $110 million is expected to come from annual giving, which will include all money donated in the past two and next five years. The remaining 80 percent is projected to be capital and endowment gifts, which are allocated to the specific areas chosen by their donors, Steele said.
"Everybody can feel like a part of this no matter how much they're giving," Steele said.
Alan Leventhal Tu'76, a member of Tuck's Board of Overseers, said the Investing in Excellence campaign is a great opportunity for alumni to help their alma mater maintain its status as a premier business school. He also sees it as chance for alumni to give back to the school that helped them attain their current positions.
"I would encourage every Tuck graduate to look at your own experience and how it's contributed to your success," Leventhal said on the campaign's website. "To the extent that you care about Tuck, there is no better way for you to ensure the school's continued leadership than to provide it with financial resources."
