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Updated: July 31, 2019

College of the Atlantic plans to raise $50M, its largest campaign ever

Courtesy / College of the Atlantic College of the Atlantic President Darron Collins announces the school’s $50 million Broad Reach capital campaign during a launch party held July 27.
By Staff

College of Atlantic announced a $50 million capital campaign to endow new student scholarships, create environmentally sustainable academic and residential spaces, and transition to a fossil fuel-free campus.

It’s the biggest fundraising drive in the school’s nearly five-decade history, according to a news release.

 The Broad Reach Campaign for College of the Atlantic’s Future has already raised $41 million in gifts and pledges.

“The Broad Reach campaign is about helping us thrive for generations to come," COA President Darron Collins said in the release. "If ever there was a need for a College of the Atlantic in this world, it’s right now.”

The campaign developed from a strategic planning process that drew on participants across all levels of the COA community, Collins said. As the most urgent priorities in the strategic plan were considered, the structure of the campaign took shape.

The campaign is buoyed by a matching gift ensuring all future donations will be maximized, Lynn Boulger, COA's dean of institutional advancement, said in the release.

"We are really excited to share the news that an anonymous donor has made a $7.5 million challenge grant that will match every donation one-to-two, meaning for every gift given, the donor will add an additional 50%,” Boulger said.

$10 million academic building

At the heart of the campaign is a $22 million project that includes the creation of a 30,000-square-foot, high-energy-performance academic building, as well as an art gallery, an experimental theater and a welcome center for admissions. 

Construction of the $10 million Center for Human Ecology, the first phase of the project, broke ground this spring, thanks to lead gifts from the Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund, led by Andrew Davis, and from COA trustees.

The campaign also earmarks $8 million for new scholarships to enable students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds to earn degrees from COA. The school is committed to welcoming first-generation college students, students from rural Maine and students from abroad, said COA Dean of Admission Heather Albert-Knopp.

“We want to ensure that every student who is accepted to COA can afford to be at COA,” Albert-Knopp said in the release.

New student housing

The campaign includes $5 million for on- and off-campus housing for 100 additional students. The school currently houses 45% of the student body. Funding from the campaign would push that closer to 75%.

Courtesy / College of the Atlantic
College of the Atlantic alumna Nell Newman ‘87, cofounder of Newman’s Own Organics and president of the Nell Newman Foundation, expresses support for COA’s $50 million Broad Reach capital campaign.

COA’s purchase of six townhouse apartments just north of campus this spring was one step toward this campaign goal, opening up rentals for 30 students. The school will likely build on-campus housing for another 50 students in the coming years, depending on the success of the campaign.

With funding of $3.5 million, the fossil fuel-free campus initiative is a key part of the campaign. Driven by students, COA’s “Energy Framework” calls for creating what would be the first fossil fuel-free college campus in the U.S. As COA’s campus mixes new construction with repurposed historic buildings, much of the work will involve conservation, using better insulation, windows, roofs, doors and sustainable energy systems.

“We want to set a new bar for sustainability, and our goal is to get our heating, electricity, and transportation fueled completely by renewable energy,” Collins said.

The campaign also aims to raise $7.5 million toward endowing six new faculty chairs with competitive salary and benefits packages.

COA enrollment has trended up over the past decade. The incoming 2019-20 first-year class is on track to be the second-largest in the college's history. The student body is 25% international, from more than 45 countries. Domestic students come from more than 40 states.

To learn more about the Broad Reach campaign, click here.

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