Donor makes historic $3 million gift and challenge to Champlain


To mark the historic nature of this announcement, Board Chair Holly Miller, President Roger Perry and Jim Crook, trustee and campaign spokesperson, appeared in costume appropriate to the "revolutionary times" this gift represents for Champlain.


As confetti rained down on the stage, a banner was unfurled when Jim Crook announced the $3 million anonymous gift that will "challenge" the College to meet and surpass its goal.


President Roger Perry, complete with wig and tri-corner hat, shares his excitement about the gift and all that it will accomplish for Champlain.

The Power of Three capital campaign has taken on new meaning for Champlain College with the announcement of a powerful $3 million gift from a donor who wishes to remain anonymous. The largest single gift in the College's history, this investment includes a $1 million outright contribution and a dollar-for-dollar match for the next $2 million raised in Champlain's capital campaign.

When the match has been completed, Champlain will have raised $14 million-exceeding its original campaign goal by $2 million. The additional investment will allow the College to increase funds available for scholarships, strengthen the College's technological capabilities, and enhance programming in the Student Life Complex.

The Power of Three is part of an ambitious $30 million construction package that includes three new signature buildings: The Center for Global Business and Technology, The Student Life Complex, and The Main Street Suites. These new initiatives will house innovative technologies, explore international issues, and form the foundation for emerging programs and enhanced campus life. Together they will herald a new era of extraordinary accomplishment at Champlain. No matter how fast the world changes, Champlain will be prepared to lead.

In the words of our donor, "At a time when even the best endowed schools are cutting back in the belief that educational economics is a "zero sum game" -- that the concept of innovation and productivity are not relevant to education -- Champlain is demonstrating a creativity and resourcefulness that is a role model for the students, the communities it serves and any other college that wants to try. This type of leadership deserves to be celebrated and replicated. It is exciting and rewarding to help support an institution that can literally change the world."

Jim Crook, President of IDX Systems Corporation, Trustee of Champlain College and spokesperson for The Power of Three capital campaign, made the announcement of this gift at a special meeting of the Board of Trustees last night. "This is an historic moment for Champlain. A $3 million investment will transform the College and it takes us to a whole new level in how we see what is possible. It makes believers out of any who may have wondered what we could accomplish."

"This investment in the College is an affirmation of the hard work of our faculty, staff and trustees through the years, and our willingness to be innovative and to take the road less traveled," said President Roger H. Perry. "The donation makes a bold statement. It says to the College's unheralded heroes, 'You've done it right!'"

The challenge gift comes just months after the public kickoff announcement in May and as Champlain prepares to launch its alumni phase of the campaign. Nearly $9 million had already been committed to The Power of Three prior to this announcement.