NORTHAMPTON – Smith College raised $486 million through the “Women for the World” campaign, a five-year effort to provide women with new educational opportunities, according to officials.
“At its heart, this campaign was all about women — their education, their leadership, their history and their future,” Smith College President Kathleen McCartney said in an news release. “This campaign is truly a historic moment for Smith and for women.”
The campaign launched in 2012 with a goal of raising $450 million. More than 37,000 donors contributed and Smith officials said the $486 million haul makes the effort the “largest and most successful campaign ever undertaken by a women’s college.”
The institution said close to $130 million from the campaign will go toward financial aid. Another $184 million will help fund its “Reimagining the Liberal Arts” initiative, a curriculum overhaul that includes new majors in Middle East studies, and in Statistical and Data Sciences as well as the creation of new professorships and a leadership program.
Smith said $110 million is earmarked for annual operating support and $71 will fund other, yet-to-be specified, initiatives.
“Smith is a stronger, better institution because of what we as a community have accomplished, and the world is forever going to benefit from the leadership, creativity and entrepreneurship of the women we graduate,” McCartney said.
Caitlin Ashworth can be reached at cashworth@gazettenet.com