MIDDLEBURY, Vt. - Middlebury College President Ronald D. Liebowitz announced October 6, 2007, that the college is launching a five-year campaign to raise $500 million - the largest fundraising campaign ever undertaken by a liberal arts college. Liebowitz also said that during the planning phases $234 million has already been raised. The campaign, which the college is calling the Middlebury Initiative, will extend and expand the range of opportunities available to students.

Middlebury Initiative logo


For more information on the Middlebury Initiative, see the Initiative web site.

“The Middlebury Initiative will strengthen our position as the global liberal arts college for the 21st century,” said Liebowitz. “Middlebury combines a human-intensive education with an expansive global perspective and an international network of educational resources that no other liberal arts college can offer. These unique resources include the Middlebury College Language Schools, C.V. Starr- Middlebury Schools Abroad, the Bread Loaf School of English, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and our recent affiliate, the Monterey Institute of International Studies.”

According to the president, the Middlebury Initiative is based on the college’s recently adopted strategic plan. The funds raised will:

  • supplement the college’s financial aid, aimed at attracting and supporting talented students who represent a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives;
  • enhance Middlebury’s human-intensive learning environment by adding 25 new faculty positions;
  • provide new funds to support curriculum development, student research and student involvement in the scholarly pursuits of their professors; and
  • create new opportunities for student creativity, innovation and entrepreneurialism outside the classroom.

Co-chairs of the Middlebury Initiative are Richard Fuld, a parent of Middlebury College graduates in the classes of 2003 and 2007; Roxanne McCormick Leighton, a member of the Middlebury College class of 1967; Kimberly Collins Parizeau, a member of the Middlebury College class of 1979; and Kendrick Wilson, a parent of Middlebury College graduates in the classes of 2001 and 2003 and a current first-year Middlebury student. Honorary co-chairs are James S. Davis, a member of the Middlebury College class of 1966 and parent of a current Middlebury senior; and Elizabeth and Felix G. Rohatyn, a member of the Middlebury College class of 1949.

“The Middlebury Initiative provides an inspiring opportunity for alumni, parents and friends to have a profound impact on the future of the college,” said Frederick M. Fritz, chair of the college’s board of trustees, and a 1968 Middlebury College graduate and parent of Middlebury College graduates in the classes of 1995, 1997 and 2000. “The success of this effort will help Middlebury further define its leadership as a unique liberal arts institution with an international perspective.”