Recent significant gifts to Colgate from alumni demonstrate movement in the Third-Century Plan across a number of important initiatives.
New Named Chairs
Few resources are more central to the greatness and success of a university than its excellent faculty. In keeping with the Third-Century Plan’s call for increased faculty support, the Board of Trustees approved the creation of four new chairs during its January 2022 meeting.
The addition of the Himoff Family Chair in Legacies; the Sweet Family Chair, supporting sustained immersion into knowledge beyond a current discipline; the Hurley Family Chair in Dialogue, Deliberation, and Decision Making; and the Nora Gleason Leary ’82 and Robert G. Leary Chair in Environmental Studies will allow the University to attract and retain outstanding teacher-scholars and support emerging academic initiatives.
Being named to an endowed chair is one of the highest honors available to faculty and recognizes members for their academic achievement and distinguished teaching. In addition to providing chairholders with dedicated funds to enhance their research and teaching efforts, the endowment that allows for the creation of a new chair ensures the faculty position in the academic field represented in the chair’s designation in perpetuity.
Ten new endowed chairs have been funded since the Plan’s inception. Currently, Colgate has 47 endowed chairs, and the University will look to add more than 20 endowed chairs in the years ahead. This initiative will bring Colgate’s number of endowed chairs in line with the nation’s leading institutions and will help the University retain and recognize its best faculty, recruit the next generation of leading academics, and assist our efforts to diversify the faculty so that it reflects the diversity of the nation and our student body.
Renovations of Athletics Facilities
Even as we reward and retain leading faculty, the Third-Century Plan recognizes the excellence of our Division I athletics program, honoring our student-athletes for their skill and increasing our capacity to attract top recruits through the development of new, world-class facilities.
Trustee Emeritus Chase Carey ’76, his wife, Wendy, and their children Steve ’12 and Tara ’13 have made a transformative $25 million gift to spearhead a comprehensive renovation of the Reid Athletic Center.
A newly constructed south wing (replacing the portion of the building that now houses the old Starr Rink) will serve as the home for Colgate men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball teams. With its dedicated locker rooms, lounges, sport office suites, and film rooms, the new arena will provide, on average, 85% more square footage per student-athlete than is currently available. A health and performance center will nearly double the size of existing facilities and integrate Colgate’s sports medicine, strength and conditioning, sports nutrition, and mental health and performance programs.
The Carey family has also provided support for the Center for Freedom and Western Civilization and the University’s rugby club. Taken together, the various aspects of their gift demonstrate the distinctive way in which academics and athletics shape the Colgate experience.