Through the enthusiastic and generous support of more than 5,000 alumni, parents, and other friends of Ithaca College, the Emerson Challenge fund-raising campaign has been successfully completed nearly nine months ahead of schedule, with more than $1,150,000 in gifts and pledges for a grand total in excess of $1,650,000.
In December 1994, the Fred L. Emerson Foundation of Auburn, New York, awarded Ithaca College a $500,000 challenge grant to support scholarship and internship initiatives and to enable students to access computer network services directly from their residence halls. To receive the funds, Ithaca was to raise $1 million to match the grant two-for-one by December 1996.
"Our trustees, alumni, parents, and friends accepted this challenge and the opportunity it provided for them to demonstrate their commitment to this institution," said Ithaca College president James J. Whalen. "I want to thank them for their generosity which has resulted in the successful early completion of the campaign. We are deeply proud of and grateful for our continuing friendship and partnership with the Emerson Foundation. The Emersons have made a lasting difference for generations of Ithaca College students."
Ithaca students have gained nearly $1.2 million in financial aid resources, with Emerson Challenge funds used to create nine new endowed scholarships, nine new annual scholarships, and one new endowed internship; and to enhance 54 endowed and 20 annual scholarships already in existence. Additionally, nearly 1,000 students in the College's Tower and Emerson Hall residences now have access to on- and off-campus computer network services directly from their rooms.
The largest institutional contributor in Ithaca's history, the foundation's initial grant to the College in 1975 established the Fred L. Emerson Foundation Endowed Scholarship Fund. Since then, the fund has been enhanced through additional gifts and grants from the foundation and by contributions from friends, parents, and graduates of the College, including those who participated as Emerson scholars. Ithaca has awarded Emerson scholarships to almost 2,500 students.