As unrestricted giving is in decline among higher education institutions across the country, gifts to the Colgate Fund set an all-time record in fiscal year 2019, totaling $8.1 million, a 35 percent increase since 2015 — and a testament to the power and commitment of the Colgate community.
The Colgate Fund strengthens every program on campus, making it an important resource for the first initiatives of the University’s Third-Century Plan. Below are just a few ways Colgate Fund supporters made a difference on the hill this year.
- Increased Financial Aid: In a continued effort to provide competitive financial support and lessen student debt, Colgate launched the No-Loan Initiative, which will eliminate federal loans from financial aid offers for all current and incoming students with a total family income below $125,000, starting in the fall of 2020.
- Support for Faculty: To build upon the University’s tradition of excellence in faculty and recruit top scholars and teachers, Colgate announced a series of enhancements to faculty hiring packages — such as increased research leave at successful passage of third-year review and more generous start-up packages that will provide greater support, such as travel, equipment, library resources, and other supplies.
- Off-Campus Study: For four years straight, Colgate has been named the number one baccalaureate institution for mid-length, off-campus study participation, according to the Open Doors Report published by the Institute of International Education. Colgate was recognized for sending 383 students abroad for full-semester study groups in the last school year.
- Carbon Neutrality: During its Bicentennial year, Colgate fulfilled its commitment to achieving carbon neutrality. The University is now the first institution of higher education in New York State to reduce its net carbon emissions to zero.
- New Major: Film and Media Studies: In Fall 2018, when Colgate announced that film and media studies would be offered as a new major, six students reshaped their senior year to complete the requirements. In May, they graduated, having completed courses like Global Cinema, Narrative Screenwriting, History and Theory of Photography, and American Popular Culture.
- Student Research: Opportunities In 2019, 181 students participated in summer research on and off campus with a diverse group of faculty members. For instance, Assistant Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences Lauren Philbrook worked with two student researchers to study how environmental factors and bedtime routines impact the sleep quality and patterns of young children.
- Research: Colgate Fund dollars helped to expand human knowledge by funding important research. One example: a newly published study authored by 10 Colgate students and led by Associate Professor of Biology Engda Hagos revealed how a specific protein inhibits cancer growth at the cellular level — a discovery that could one day lead to new cancer treatments.
- Art at Colgate: Campus galleries hosted a variety of exhibitions this year, including one created in honor of the University’s Bicentennial, The Hill Envisioned: What Might Have Been — What Might Yet Be, an exploration of the development of Colgate’s distinctive campus throughout the last 200 years.
- Additional Athletic Scholarships: During this fiscal year, several new athletics scholarships were added, bringing the number of teams at the NCAA Division I maximum to six. This additional support will allow Colgate to attract and recruit the most talented scholar-athletes — and to become even more competitive.
- Community Service: Following annual tradition, the Max A. Shacknai Center for Outreach, Volunteerism, and Education (COVE) organized a 9/11 Afternoon of Service. More than 70 student volunteers worked with eight nonprofits in Hamilton and neighboring towns to help local farms, promote environmental conservation, maintain trails, and preserve the Chenango Canal — among other community service activities.
- ALANA Cultural Center: In April 2019, the Africana, Latin American, Asian American, and Native American (ALANA) Cultural Center celebrated its 30- year anniversary. ALANA hosted tile-creation sessions, a rededication ceremony, and a panel discussion — all while reaffirming the center’s ongoing mission to serve as an educational space for students of color as well as the larger Colgate community.
- Student Health Services: Gifts to the Colgate Fund helped to enable positive changes to Colgate’s Student Health Services, including staff expansions and agreements with Upstate Medical University. These agreements are increasing clinical care availability on campus while also bolstering sports-medicine support for Division I athletes, student club teams, and intramurals.
- Beautifying the Campus: Colgate is regularly named in national media as one of America’s most beautiful college campuses. The Colgate Fund helps the building and grounds team to maintain campus, keeping the University’s built and natural environs beautiful for new generations of students as well as alumni who return to the hill for reunions.
Colgate's Third-Century Plan outlines bold ambitions for the University's future. With the support of alumni, families, and friends, these aspirations are within reach.
Be a part of the progress. Make a gift to the Colgate Fund.