MEADVILLE, Pa. - July 18, 2003 - “We have more than three million reasons to be thankful today,” said Annual Giving Director Tim Brady at a staff meeting this week. “I feel very lucky to be part of this team.”

Brady had the honor of announcing to his colleagues that Allegheny College alumni, parents, employees, and friends gave $3,020,516 to the Annual Fund this year—an 11% increase over last year's giving, and a 54% increase over five years ago.

Allegheny alumni, Dag and Julie Skattum, class of '84 and '85 respectively, led the charge for this year's fundraising when, at the College's Celebration of the Liberal Arts last fall, they promised to match new and increased gifts to the College's Annual Fund.

The Annual Fund makes a difference every day in the life of every student. Gifts to the Annual Fund provide support for scholarships, academic departments, internships, library journals and databases, computer and lab resources, athletics, campus beautification, and more.

“Since we don't have the enormous endowment of many other schools, our Annual Fund must be well supported.” said Dag Skattum.

Dag and Julie's commitment to support Allegheny College represented the largest single Annual Fund commitment in Allegheny's history.

While the Skattums led the charge, certainly the tone for generous giving was set by Allegheny College President Richard Cook, members of the Board of Trustees and the Alumni Council, all of whom personally participated at record levels as well.

“In any economy, achieving record giving is gratifying. But, in our current, tough economy, this is a real victory.” said Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs John McCandless. “It's a tribute to the loyalty of thousands of our alumni and friends who are committed to ensuring that Allegheny College remains one the nation's finest institutions of higher education.”

For the first time in 15 years, private donations to colleges and universities nationwide declined last year, according to a recent report by the Council for Aid to Education. Alumni support at colleges slipped 13.6 percent in 2002, the largest drop since 1952, the report said.

While Allegheny's overall fundraising (including cash and pledges) remained strong last year, it, too, saw a downturn in large, cash payments on pledges and outright major, cash gifts to the institution during past fiscal year. Administrators attribute this to the difficult economy and expect that capital giving will increase during the upcoming year, as the economy continues to improve.

“Especially with a sluggish economy, it is significant to note that our alumni and friends have remained supportive by increasing their contributions to the Annual Fund. They’ve made giving to Allegheny a philanthropic priority as an outright demonstration of their lifelong loyalty to the College,” said Marjie Klein, Development and Major Gifts Director.

Last fall, Allegheny College launched the public phase of a $105 million, seven-year capital campaign, Tradition and Transformation: Making a Difference, to transform the college to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Founded in 1815, Allegheny College is a nationally recognized, selective college of the liberal arts and sciences in northwestern Pennsylvania and is one of forty colleges featured in Loren Pope's Colleges That Change Lives. This spring Allegheny College was featured in Harvard Schmarvard, a new book about the pressure-filled college admissions process by Washington Post education reporter, Jay Mathews.

For more information, please contact Barb Steadman in the Office of Public Affairs at (814) 332-6755.