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BY ELENA CHOPYAK

In print | March 8, 2007

Fresh off of the college’s last capital campaign, “The Meaning of Swarthmore,” the new Planning Steering Committee is already gearing up to prepare Swarthmore for the year 2025 with its “Swarthmore of 2025” campaign.

“The Meaning of Swarthmore” campaign, which officially ended Dec. 31 of last year, is to be followed almost immediately by a second campaign aimed at generating a conceptual blueprint to guide the college’s future projects and goals leading up to 2025.

Dan West, vice president for Alumni, Development and Public Relations, said that the latest campaign will build upon the success of its predecessor, “The Meaning of Swarthmore.” “We did so well on this previous campaign, and we hope we can maintain the momentum,” West said.

The last campaign focused on mobilizing the resources needed to expand and develop various programs, including Islamic studies, film and media studies, cognitive science and interpretation theory.

Additionally, faculty positions were added to relieve enrollment pressures in certain departments, including economics, where the student-faculty ratio far exceeds the 8:1 figure advertised by the Admissions office.

Renovations in Parrish and the construction of the state-of-the-art Science Center were prominent features of “The Meaning of Swarthmore” campaign.

According to College Vice President Maurice Eldridge ‘61, the expansion of the college’s financial aid program far exceeded its goal, as did the overall fundraising campaign. At its conclusion on Dec. 31, “The Meaning of Swarthmore” campaign had raised $15 million more than the expected $230 million.

Although Eldridge was uncertain as to which areas the college will choose to expand and renovate in anticipation of the year 2025, he speculated that updating technology will be high on the planning committee’s list of priorities.

“Technology is forever changing and this is an opportunity to be visionary and to try to imagine how the world will change,” Eldridge said.

Newly elected Student Council Vice President Sam Asarnow ’08 is one of two student representatives currently serving on the planning committee to contribute a student perspective.

Asarnow said that in addition to keeping up with the pace of technological innovation, “maintaining up-to-date facilities for the natural sciences” will be an equally pressing concern in coming years.

The planning committee is soliciting student voices and visions to shape the future of the college.

Students received a letter through campus mail and through Reserved Student e-mail from College President Al Bloom requesting their Swarthmore in 2025.

There is also a “Planning for Swarthmore 2025” link on the Portal Web site which connects students to a list of planning committee members and a meeting schedule, recommended readings by authors including New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and Princeton economist Alan Blinder, and a procedure for submitting ideas to the committee.

Students may also email the committee at planning2@swarthmore.edu with their ideas.

Asarnow said that there may be a fireside chat in Kohlberg coffee bar this semester to collect even more input from students.

Although the potential improvements being considered for implementation by 2025 will be realized years after current students graduate, Asarnow said he has no doubt that students will take an interest in improvements that will benefit the campus 18 years from now.

“We have faith in how Swarthmore saturates [students’] lives here. Swarthmore is not just some place where you live for four years,” Asarnow said, adding that students are concerned about aesthetic and curricular changes of campus, even if they will not experience these changes directly.

“It would be great for students to understand that what they enjoy is supported by our predecessors. We all carry an obligation to join their ranks,” Eldridge said.

Funds for the renovation of the college are provided by alumni, parents, non-alumni friends of the college and foundations.

“We need to develop more non-alumni friends,” West said. With an alumni base of only 20,000 graduates, many of whom enter non-profit professions that offer minimal monetary compensation, the college must look elsewhere for resources, according to West.

The year 2014 will be the college’s 250th anniversary, and West hopes that the fundraising campaign will benefit from the publicity and celebration surrounding the historical landmark.

“The underlying point is that the college is forever going to be dependent on philanthropy,” Eldridge said.

At this point, the planning committee has determined that its vision for the future will not be constrained by financial concerns.

“It’s really exciting to begin this planning process,” West said.

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