In 2017, when Spelman College launched one of the biggest capital campaigns in Black college history, the goal was an ambitious, but modest, $250 million.
On Tuesday, Spelman’s new president Dr. Helene Gayle, said the school has blazed past that goal.
The Ascends Campaign, the largest comprehensive campaign in the college’s history, has raised $339 million to cover student fees, improve technological infrastructure, build the Center for Innovation & Arts, and expand various initiatives across campus.
Evoking the old African adage that it takes a village to raise a child, Gayle — joined in a virtual celebration by her predecessor Mary Schmidt Campbell and board chair Rosalind Brewer — praised the entire Spelman community for what she called a historic achievement.
“That is exactly what the Spelman community is,” Gayle said. “It is a true village. A village of love, a village of sisterhood.”
When Spelman “officially” announced the campaign in 2021, the school had already raised $240 million during the silent phase from corporations like the Coca-Cola Foundation, ExxonMobil Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Spelman soon surpassed its goal.
Among its current fundraising priorities, Spelman wants to bring in an additional $70 million to enhance scholarships, launch a summer bridge program that will include a partnership with Atlanta Public Schools, renovate its Rockefeller Fine Arts Building and create an endowment for a planned innovation and arts center.
Spelman has seen its average fundraising totals go from $18 million a year between 2015-2017 to $54 million a year since, school officials said.
Historically Black Colleges and Universities like Spelman have seen an increase in donations, particularly from major companies since the nationwide protests that followed the George Floyd killing in May 2020. Spelman received a $40 million gift from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and his wife, philanthropist Patty Quillin, that summer.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Spelman has also seen an influx of financial support from former students. More than 12,160 Spelman alumnae donated about $25 million. Spelman reported that 17,000 unique donors contributed to the capital campaign.
Campbell, who was president when the campaign started and retired last year, said the central inspiration of it was the Spelman student body, whom she called “visionaries.”
“We had to be prepared to do whatever it took to make sure that our students were going to be competitive in a 21st-century workforce,” she said. “All of those things drove that strategic plan that we created.”
Spelman’s Center for Innovation & the Arts, will be funded out of the campaign. It’s the first new building on campus in more than 25 years and will be named after Campbell.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Spelman is not alone in the quest to raise funds at HBCUs. Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College and Morehouse School of Medicine each have capital campaigns.
Sitting on a $570 million endowment, as of June 2021, Spelman is one of the richest HBCUs in the country, but still trails other elite women’s colleges like Mount Holyoke, Smith and Wellesley colleges, which have endowments in the billions.
Credit: Jennifer Brett
Credit: Jennifer Brett
“We need this for long-term investment,” Brewer said. “We do a fine job of managing the day-to-day, but this is something different when you can come together and align the resources that you need to fulfill your strategy through long-term growth. This is a fantastic time for us to think about what the college needs next.”
At the end of the announcement, Gayle popped a bottle of champagne.
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