Dean Rifkin sent this message in response to Holzman’s email.
To the Editor:
If every student were to contribute $5 or even $1 to the College’s Comprehensive Campaign, the total dollar amount raised would not be transformative for the campus: no new buildings would be built, no new faculty or staff would be hired, no new scholarships established, no expansion of our college’s financial aid program. But it would mean that we would have a 100 percent participation rate of our current students and that is an extremely powerful statistic to take to other donors and to foundations. The same is true for the participation of other stakeholder groups, such as alumni, parents of current or former students, and faculty and staff.
When we have high participation rates from our stakeholder groups, our campus is better positioned to attract donations from individuals and foundations that can transform our community. Such gifts could build a new building, hire new faculty or staff, establish new scholarships for study abroad or undergraduate research in the summer, and expand our college’s financial aid program to make it possible for students to graduate with less debt.
My request to our community to consider giving to the College through the campaign comes from a shared vision of the College with more budgetary resources to help all our students achieve their goals: attend small classes with talented and caring faculty in state-of-the-art facilities with opportunities to participate in our signature experiences without financial barriers and with a reduced debt burden.
I believe in the mission of the College and I believe in the College’s community. I give to the College myself and urge others to give as well.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Rifkin
Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences
Spokesman Dave Muha raised the following concerns in response to Holzman’s email:
Holzman said that the College’s endowment comes from taxes, but all of it comes from private donors who support the College’s mission and students. Gitenstein spoke about the importance of supporting students, which is why the campaign aims to raise 20 million dollars for scholarships. One of the first donations, The Helene Fuld Charitable Trust, is valued at 6.6 million dollars and will aid nursing students.
