Launched. For Every Future: The Campaign for Middlebury

“We will empower a generation of students in one of the most rigorous, immersive, and globally engaged experiences in higher education. We’ll connect their academics with the challenges of changing times, ensuring that they’ll be ready to share the educational gifts they’ve been given with a world that needs them.” —President Laurie L. Patton

“I truly believe that a Middlebury education is something the world needs today. Critical thinkers, creative problem solvers, global citizens, compassionate and broadly educated leaders.” —Trustee Chair and Campaign Co-chair Ted Truscott

President Laurie L. Patton today announced plans to advance Middlebury’s distinctive model of liberal arts and sciences education in service of its mission: to prepare students to lead engaged, consequential, and creative lives, contribute to their communities, and address the world’s most challenging problems through the institution’s commitment to immersive learning.

For Every Future: The Campaign for Middlebury is the largest, most comprehensive effort of its kind in Middlebury history. Now entering its public phase, it will raise $600 million in new investment from alumni, parents, and friends. The institution is already more than halfway toward that goal, with commitments totaling $383 million made during the campaign’s three-year leadership phase. 

Middlebury also seeks to engage 85 percent of undergraduate alumni through the campaign. Sixty-four percent of undergraduate alumni have already contributed by making gifts, volunteering, or participating in campus, regional, or online events.

The current total includes a $38 million bequest for unrestricted endowment. This recent gift is the largest bequest in Middlebury history, and the largest gift to date to the For Every Future campaign.

“I see Middlebury and Middlebury people as a dynamic, moving force for positive change in the world,” says Churchill Franklin, a member of the Campaign Leadership Committee. “That takes financial support, paying it forward to the next generation.”

What’s at Stake

President Patton has framed the campaign—and the institution’s highest purpose—in the following way:

“When has understanding the world and finding value in our differences been more urgent than it is today?” she has asked the greater Middlebury community. “When has working across intellectual, cultural, and geographic borders been more crucial than it is right now? Immersing young people in environments and experiences that prepare them to navigate a complicated world, and to thrive in it, has never been more necessary.”

To that end, the campaign will provide new investment in people and programs across the Middlebury constellation of schools—the undergraduate College, the Institute of International Studies in Monterey, the Bread Loaf School of English and Writers’ Conferences, the Language Schools, and the 16 C.V. Starr Schools Abroad, which operate at 33 sites around the world. The campaign will also fund select infrastructure projects on the Vermont campus.

“It will strengthen our foundation and build new connections across disciplines, programs, and schools,” Patton says, “so every student can take advantage of all that Middlebury has to offer.”

Says Campaign Co-chair Parker Harris, “My Middlebury education was a gift that shaped the course of my life. In this campaign we’ll continue to shape lives and enable our students to develop the knowledge, skills, and sensibilities to do meaningful work in the world.”

The eight-member Campaign Leadership Committee, which is guiding the multiyear effort, includes Koby Altman ’04; Belinda Badcock P’18, ’21, ’27.5; Anne Davis Peterson ’85, P’13, ’18; Churchill Franklin ’71, P’02, ’05.5, ’07, Hon DHL ’08; Janet Halstead Franklin ’72, P’02, ’05.5, ’07, Hon DHL ’08; Parker Harris ’89, P’20, co-chair; George Lee ’88, P’20; and Ted Truscott ’83, co-chair.

For Every Future: What’s in a Name?

The campaign name was developed through a series of discussion groups involving faculty, staff, students, alumni, parents, and friends. Reflecting the spirit of those conversations, campaign leaders have described the name—and the guiding principles behind it—in the following ways:

“We’re thinking about the academic experience of every student and providing the best that we can provide. Middlebury is a student-centered place.” —Anne Davis Peterson

“Encouraging critical thinking, empathy, and adaptability, this campaign represents hope and meaningful impact for future generations.” —Belinda Badcock

“It’s about how we prepare our students to be leaders in this world, and about our reputation and global presence as an institution.” —Koby Altman

“The name can mean a few things, but first it’s about making Middlebury more accessible and affordable to all students everywhere.” —Janet Halstead Franklin

“It speaks to a school that is forward leaning, both grounded in tradition while continually striving to be relevant and salient to the future.” —George Lee

The Campaign Priorities

For Every Future: The Campaign for Middlebury will strengthen the institution for the long term by advancing the following:

• Access: Expanding financial aid resources to meet the full financial need of every accepted student to enrich the exchange of ideas in classrooms and create the strongest student body possible.
• Academic Excellence: Driving innovative approaches in education to ensure Middlebury prepares students to learn how to learn, to be comfortable with complexity, and to thrive in a fast-changing world.
• Experience: Maximizing immersive, experiential opportunities that can accelerate learning and deepen understanding to prepare students for meaningful careers and a lifetime of leadership.
• Annual Giving: Supporting in real time all the distinctive qualities of a Middlebury education, from recruiting exceptional faculty to enhancing global awareness.
• Capital Projects: Creating campus environments that support our academic mission and build community among students, faculty, and staff. 

The campaign will develop in students “21st-century literacies,” so whatever fields they study, they’ll be fluent in data analysis, cultural difference, environmental change, and conflict transformation, essential to addressing the world’s great challenges. And it will support the integration of leadership development into students’ everyday lives—in the classroom, in their residences, on athletic fields, and through cocurricular activities. Campaign initiatives will encourage students to be both learners and leaders during their time at Middlebury and to turn potentially life-changing ideas into reality.

Taking It on the Road

Middlebury held its first launch event on the Vermont campus October 26, one of many that will be put on around the region, country, and eventually abroad. The newly renovated Johnson Building and Dana Auditorium were the sites for “Purpose and Place: Voices of Middlebury,” an evening of fellowship and good cheer steeped in the institution’s character. The twin themes of global presence and human connection were on full display, including in a “Moth-style” hour of storytelling anchored in the personal experiences of Middlebury people.

The campaign celebration will now fan out to reach as many alumni, parents, and friends as possible. Planned events:

• Burlington, December 6, 2023—Hula Lakeside
• Boston, December 13, 2023—Institute of Contemporary Art
• San Francisco, March 28, 2024—Salesforce Tower
• New York City, April 17, 2024—Tribeca 360°

As the campaign progresses, stories and updates will be shared across Middlebury’s communications channels and at the campaign website: For Every Future: The Campaign for Middlebury.