A Report From Williams 2004

When we are through, Williams will at last have a “living room” where our extraordinary students can pursue that essential second half of their education — the one they give each other.

A REPORT FROM WILLIAMS 2004

A M E SSAG E F R O M M O R T Y S C H A P I R O

Dear alumni, parents, and friends, It’s all about the students. Liberal arts colleges serve society by broadening and deepening the knowledge of their undergraduates who, especially in the case of Williams, go on disproportionately to fill positions of leadership in their professions and communities. Those of us entrusted with the stewardship of this great college judge every decision by how much it will improve the education of our students. As we do, it’s an enormous help to know that you share our long-standing commitment. We know because so many of you have contributed time, wisdom, and resources in support of our strategic initiatives to enhance our students’ education. All of your efforts are brought together in The Williams Campaign. One year after launching the campaign with nearly $160 million in advance commitments, we have received another $76 million, which puts us at $236 million toward our five-year, $400-million goal. This is a strong start, indeed, but there are four more years and a very long way to go before The Williams Campaign can claim genuine success. We also look beyond this essential dollar progress to the main point — how each of you is helping us advance Williams as a learning community. That said, your initial campaign support has done a great deal of good. Williams has, for instance, hired 30 additional professors. A larger faculty means that more than 70 percent of Williams classes now have fewer than 20 students, up from less than 60 percent just a few years ago. It has also allowed us to increase from 21 to 46 the number of tutorials, in which a professor works with five teams of two students for a semester.

CONTENTS

1–8 Message from President Morty Schapiro

9 Message from Trustee Bob Lipp ’60

10 Campaign Progress

11–14 Financial Information

Ground for a Williams College Student Union was broken by President James Phinney Baxter 3d ’14 in a ceremony on September 13. Construction was begun immediately, and the building was finished the following year.

On Sunday, February 21, nearly 300 friends of the College were present in the freshman lounge of the Student Union and Freshman Center to witness the structure’s dedication as Baxter Hall.

THE CONSTRUCTION, 1952

BAXTER HALL, 1954

Additional professors have also helped us launch ambitious curricular initiatives: new requirements in writing and quantitative reasoning, interdisciplinary programs in areas from cognitive science to international studies, and experiential opportunities such as “Williams in New York,” which we will pilot next year. Complementing these academic initiatives, early campaign support is allowing us to take active steps to enrich the Williams experience outside the classroom. Though this work (the subject of this entire report) is still in its early stages, we’ve made great improvements to dormitories like Prospect and Mission Park. And through programmatic initiatives, some new staffing, and — most important — continual dialogue with students, we are beginning to address the wonderful challenge of increasing the ways in which students serve each other as “professors” in this “second half” of a Williams education. >>

Sabrina Wirth ’05 Sabrina Wirth has a vivid record of her growth as a cartoonist: “My people freshman year looked a lot more like illustrations. They had actual noses, for instance. Now my Williams people look more like the characters in The Boondocks or Calvin and Hobbes.” More impressionistic but just as strong is Sabrina’s sense of her growth as a person, one who, in addition to drawing a weekly strip for The Record, also belongs to the Alpine Ski Team, served on College Council, tutored local elementary school kids and sometimes holds down two campus jobs at once. “I’m not the most organized person in the world,” says Sabrina,

“but doing all this made me more organized. I can actually focus more on my work when I fill up all my time with other things!” At Williams, Sabrina has also tasted the satisfactions and perils of trying to create change. On College Council, she put her graphic skills to work by developing a new “CC” logo, an interesting exercise in making an aesthetic decision by committee. Far more challenging was her effort to amend the Honor Code by adding a section on the ethics of how students treat each other (a move inspired when her stolen backpack never reappeared). No one could fault her desire to inspire better behavior, and several reps offered

to help refine her amendment. But others felt passionately that imposing new social guidelines was not the way to go. Debate that began in College Council jumped to the op-ed page of The Record, and it isn’t over yet. Whether or not her amendment succeeds, Sabrina may ultimately be developing an even more powerful tool for shaping student attitudes. Quoting her Boondocks-drawing role model Aaron McGruder (who visited the Williams campus last year), Christina observes, “A cartoonist always has the last word.” 2

Baxter’s Snack Bar brought together generations of Ephs (and faculty, staff, and neighbors) over great fast food in a ski-lodge setting. All will be sustained (along with better window views) going forward.

From intercollegiate “mixers” to a capella, from WCFM radio to College Council, from the Astronomy Club to the Sushi Club, Williams students have always learned from each other beyond the classroom.

THE SNACK BAR, 1954

S T U D E N T O R G A N I Z AT I O N S , 1 9 5 4

>> Even without our help, student life at Williams would be very different today from before. The essential qualities that define Williams students transcend the generations — but where our students originate and what experiences they bring with them have, in a few decades, entirely changed. These extraordinary young men and women come from every corner of our country and from all over the world. In effect, every student at Williams today is enrolled in a provocative, if unofficial, course in interpersonal relations and global understanding — taught by their classmates every minute of the day. As a Williams professor, I hesitate to say so, but if our students did nothing more than learn from each other for four years, they would still leave with a very impressive education (if not a diploma). These changes in the student experience are magnificent — but their benefits are not automatic. It takes extra effort and real creativity to find ways to enable such a wonderfully varied group of human beings to learn the most from each other. One important way we’re doing that is through the creation of a new Student Center on the site of Baxter Hall.

Christina Villegas ’05 One day Christina Villegas drove upstate from Queens with her parents to shop the outlet stores — and came home with a fabulous purple college that fit her perfectly. Since it was college-hunting season, the family had taken an unscheduled detour to Williams. Despite “horrible rain,” Christina fell in love: Something just felt comfortable.” As a freshman, she quickly found her home here as a leader in the student movement to create a Latino studies program, first as a member and chair of VISTA, the Latino student group, and today as co-president of MinCo, an umbrella for all campus minority organizations.

Interdisciplinary programs like Latino studies typically offer courses from professors in many different departments, from history and political science to literature and art history. But to ensure enough courses each year to make a major possible, most programs seek to hire a core of tenure-track faculty they can call their own. Along with several other students, Christina joined the College’s official search for the first dedicated Latino studies professor. In historian Carmen Whalen, they found their inspiration: “Her interest and vibrancy pulled me into being a history major,” Christina says. Though surely much work remains before the program is “real,” each year since has brought

new gains in courses offered and talent hired. Christina feels encouraged: “President Schapiro really wants to make this a model program for the College.” Why do she and President Schapiro both feel the program is so important? Because Williams has a responsibility to prepare its students to be effective leaders in an increasingly multicultural society. What’s more, as Christina explains, “As an institution, if you make a commitment to having a diverse student body, it can’t be half-hearted. These are real people. In the long term, a Latino studies program helps improve us as a college, as students, and as citizens of this country.”

Desperately needed socks. A birthday card from your grandmother. The new Sports Illustrated. Even in an age of electronic communication, mailboxes exert a powerful magnetic force, drawing students together in a spontaneous meeting spot around them. The Baxter originals have all been preserved for reinstallation in 2006.

The challenge is to match in the 21st century the level of service Baxter provided a student body of only 1,000 when it was built in 1954. Today, Baxter’s central mail facility alone takes up much of what used to be functional space, even as student organizations have grown to a level never imagined.

THE MAIL ROOM, 1954

STUDENT CENTER, 1960

Since its dedication in 1954, Baxter served as a campus crossroads — a place to bump into people and ideas you might not otherwise encounter. For example, thanks to its allcampus TV, Baxter became inextricably tied in the minds of many Ephs with defining events of their respective eras: The McCarthy hearings. The Cuban missile crisis. Watergate. The Gulf War. September 11th. It was home to many wonderful meals, passionate debates, hilarious skits, and imaginative parties. For our student organizations, it contained and fostered vital community work. And, as every Eph knows, it was home to two dear friends: the snack bar and your mail box (maybe even with a letter from home). >>

After graduation, Adam took his passion for community-building to the national level, working with the Commission on Presidential Debates, a group led by another civic-minded Eph, Janet H. Brown ’73. He’s now at Oxford, studying comparative social policy.

Adam Grogg ’04 If the book Bowling Alone perfectly captures the ragged state of American civil society, Adam Grogg could probably show us how to knit it together again. At a minimum, we may require him to share the secret of how he manages such a jaw-dropping range of activities; one suspects he has devised a 34-hour day. To start with, he helped launch a new Williams tradition: First Fridays, a wildly popular once-amonth all-campus party that opens with a band, closes with a DJ and features “an atmosphere that’s comfortable even for people who don’t drink at all.” (That same concept helped inspire programming for the new Student Center; Adam also served on the committee that shaped

its vision.) Attracting long lines of students, First Fridays are now a real institution, paid for by the College and managed by All Campus Entertainment. Adam also managed Goodrich and The Log, cowrote a satirical biweekly beer-and-wine column for The Record — and made Phi Beta Kappa after junior year. In his spare time, he picked up a project launched by a graduating friend: attracting potential volunteer donors for a national bone marrow registry. As Adam explains, “About 30,000 leukemia patients a year require a bone marrow transplant. Thirty percent find a match in their family. For the rest, the national registry is their only option.” The first challenge: raising

the money to cover the $78 fee for each new registration. The second: inspiring people to volunteer. Seventeen-thousand dollars and hundreds of new registrants later, Adam had created another Williams tradition; seeing his success, the College now funds the program itself. After graduation, Adam took his passion for community-building to the national level, working with the Commission on Presidential Debates, a group led by another civic-minded Eph, Janet H. Brown ’73. He’s now a Marshall Scholar at Oxford, studying comparative social policy: “In terms of government intervention, what works and what doesn’t?” Knowing Adam, when he finds out, he’ll drop by the local Bowladrome and let us know.

4

Though fitting roughly within the original Baxter “footprint,” the new Student Center will provide 12,000 more square feet of functional space. Prominent east and west entrances will draw students from all campus corners. Large windows and a second-floor terrace and balcony will offer great views, and a soaring central atrium will carry Phinney Baxter’s name.

The lower level will feature a pub, a social lounge, and a large, multipurpose space for student entertainment and performance. A. Pub B. Social Lounge C

B

C. Multipurpose

A THE NEW STUDENT CENTER, 2006

LOWER LEVEL, 2006

>> Despite all this, we’ve taken it down — because Baxter just doesn’t work anymore. Over the years, half of the dining center has been closed because not enough students were eating there. At the same time, too much of this building intended for students was given over to catering functions that will now be housed elsewhere. And then there’s the rabbit warren in the basement, a first-class bomb shelter but a lousy place to jam the offices of our dynamic student clubs and publications.

As Ilunga explains, “Williams is all about student initiative. That’s part of why I came here. So I really wanted College Council to be proactive, to seek out important problems and focus on tangible results.”

Ilunga Kalala ’05 What’s that tragic sound? The terrible cry of yet another student organization succumbing to the fatal quicksand of Refining Its Own Bylaws. Fortunately, last year Ilunga Kalala and his co-president, “Vero” Mendiola ’05, helped Williams’ College Council clamber to safety — just in time. As Ilunga explains, “Williams is all about student initiative. That’s part of why I came here. So I really wanted College Council to be proactive, to seek out important problems and focus on tangible results.” With Ilunga’s leadership and encouragement, College Council reps this year have worked to stop the state from

5

mistakenly taxing students for cafeteria meals, lobbied for the creation of a Latino studies program and launched an effort to increase the value of book vouchers for students receiving financial aid. Ilunga admits that leading College Council can “take a toll on your GPA,” but it has taught him skills he’ll use forever — like the fine art of how to delegate. And while College Council is what he lives and breathes, he has also worked as a JA, run the 400 in track, play JV basketball and serve as a lead dancer in the African dance and drumming troupe, Kusika. Since freshman year, he has also

been a passionate member of Sankofa, the College’s student-run Step Dance team. “Step,” says Ilunga, “is really rooted in the African Diaspora” — a subject close to his heart and experience, since his parents emigrated from the Congo in 1980. His work with Sankofa — as a dancer, choreographer, squad leader and teacher — is a powerful, practical way to keep that tradition alive. When accused of trying to do too much, Ilunga demurs: “The older I get, the more I realize the rewards of sleep.”

Besides a snack bar in keeping with the Baxter original, the main floor will house the mailroom, a new marketplace-style food servery, and the Baxter Hall atrium.

B

A. Snack Bar

The second level will be the programmatic hub of the entire College campus, housing all major student activities and organizations as well as an academic resource center.

B. Baxter Hall

A. CC/MinCo/ACE

C. Servery

B. Reading Room

C

D

C. Residential Life

C A

A MAIN FLOOR, 2006

B

D. Williams Record

SECOND LEVEL, 2006

Having tried every way we could think of to remedy these shortcomings within the original structure, we finally determined that the most productive and cost-effective approach was to start anew. As I write, construction is proceeding apace, and we expect to open the doors of our new Student Center in the fall of 2006. In recognition of a Williams graduate’s extraordinary $15.75 million gift to The Williams Campaign, the Board of Trustees has voted to name the new Student Center in the donor’s honor. Attached to this generous graduate’s gift was one request: that we celebrate Baxter’s past by preserving the name. When the new Student Center opens in 2006, its soaring central atrium will be called Baxter Hall, carrying on the name of Williams’ 10th president, James Phinney Baxter 3rd, Class of 1914. Of course, we’re going to preserve other valuable memories, too: the snack bar will be more than reminiscent of its charming predecessor and will feature all those wonderfully worn original tables and benches. We’ve also salvaged many mail boxes. (So you can still come back and say hello.) >>

Kim Fassler ’06 In choosing a college, Kim Fassler traded one tranquil, majestic island paradise for another, um, slightly colder one — her native Hawaii for the remote Berkshire isle known as Williamstown. Except for the waning novelty of snow, Kim remains very enthusiastic about Williams. But, as it turns out, her true home may be somewhere less obviously idyllic: “I spent Winter Study working for ABC News in New York. It was during the presidential primaries, so people were running around, getting numbers, yelling at each other. It was totally hectic, totally chaotic — and I loved it.”

On a smaller scale, she savors some of the same intensity and excitement in the offices of The Record every week — especially around 3 a.m. every Tuesday morning, when she and her fellow executive editors have spent 20 hours together in a small, hot office, debating everything from the angle of this week’s editorial to the layout of the front page to the wording of a controversial headline. “You really learn to listen to other people and to stand up for you own point of view,” says Kim, and inevitably, “You get really close.” Having earned the job of news editor as a freshman, Kim went from knowing nothing about

Williams to knowing everything that really matters — like the richest sources of campus gossip (she will certainly never tell) and the best way to contact President Schapiro (“by e-mail. And don’t use ‘U’ for you, because it really sets him off.”) She has also developed a special affection for Tuesday mornings, when people all over campus are reading and talking about the latest edition: “I really like the idea that our editorial board is setting the agenda.” Don’t be surprised if one day Kim’s agenda appears on a newsstand near you.

The principal feature of the new Student Center will be the soaring central atrium called Baxter Hall. All interior spaces and functions of the new center will emanate from this stunning central space. With a massive fireplace and comfortable seating, Baxter Hall will serve as a “living room” for the entire Williams campus.

BAXTER HALL, 2006

The new student center, together with the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance and the new effort to transform Stetson Hall and Sawyer Library into an integrated hall for the humanities and social sciences, are part of a comprehensive plan to realize the full potential of our beautiful campus.

’ 6 2 C E N T E R F O R T H E AT R E & DA N C E , 2 0 0 5

>> When you do, you’ll find a new Student Center that not only houses our vibrant student organizations, but also helps them do better work — a place whose open design and welcoming atmosphere encourages student leaders from different organizations to share ideas and expertise (as well as late-night pizzas and the copy machine). In its warm, inviting design, the new Student Center will be as irresistibly attractive as a warm hearth on a cold day — a place where remarkable students, in all their variety, can get to know each other as friends, colleagues, citizens of the same world, and fellow members of the infinitely interesting family of Williams College. This extraordinary new building, together with the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance and our emerging effort to transform Stetson Hall and Sawyer Library into an integrated center for the humanities and social sciences, will profoundly change the campus — and

Mike Crotty ’04 A warning to anyone running for All-Time Most Devoted Parents of a Williams College Athlete: Mike Crotty’s parents have a big head start. As a varsity basketball point guard, Mike played 120 games in arenas from Florida to Nevada to South Carolina to the wilds of upstate New York. Both his mother and his father made it to every game. Such unswerving devotion and sheer love for the sport shines through in Mike himself. “At your best as a point guard, you’re an extension of the coach,” says Mike. “You run the offense and you have the ball in your hands the most.” What did Mike’s best earn for Williams? A tidy 1,400 points, a Division Three national

championship the first year he was captain and a very, very near miss the second year. Mike also set a new standard for what it means to be a team player, racking up a record-scorching 891 assists (the previous College record: 495). His after-Williams, before-graduate-school adventure: a year or two playing professional basketball in Europe. (Ephs with any spare phrase books may wish to forward them to Mr. and Mrs. Crotty now.) In contrast to his basketball immersion, as a junior Mike won an open seat on the Honor Committee, which reviews the cases of students

charged with honor code violations like plagiarism or cheating. Not surprisingly, the committee’s atmosphere is serious and rather tense, its reputation daunting. As Mike saw it, the challenge for him was to “be polite but assertive, to go down another layer and draw out both sides of the story — to make totally sure that the problem wasn’t just a miscommunication between the student and the professor.” Which may be another way of saying that Mike was born to lead a team.

“Never has a partnership among the College’s alumni, parents, and friends been more primed for success than here at Williams at the beginning of the 21st century.” MORTY SCHAPIRO, 16TH PRESIDENT

they’re supposed to. All these projects are part of a comprehensive rethinking of the strengths and possibilities of our eternally beautiful campus. All this progress costs money, of course. The final price tag for dismantling Baxter and building the new Student Center as well as moving and housing Baxter’s former functions in the meantime will be $36 million. But I know the investment will be well worth it. When we are through, some 20 months from now, Williams will at last have a “living room” where our extraordinary students can pursue that essential second half of their education — the one they give each other. I hope you’ll come see for yourselves. Sincerely,

“I really learned what it was like to work: to be a busser, a waitress, a manager, to struggle to maintain inventory, to give directions and have them not be followed.”

Estelita Nimoh-Boateng ’05 Even with a Williams education, it may be impossible to calculate the precise value of the scent of warm chocolate chip cookies. But from running the Goodrich coffee bar, Estelita Nimoh-Boateng offers this empirical reckoning: When she started baking the cookies on the spot, their roaming aroma boosted sales 60 percent. Estelita made other strategic changes, too: she began selling those classic vanilla ice cream sandwiches (a delicacy unobtainable on Spring Street). Noting the perennial popularity of bagels, she started charging five cents more apiece. And she launched an employee-of-themonth program — in a student-run operation,

an unexpected and highly effective reward. Though she had no experience in retail, her masterful management eliminated the coffee bar’s $21,000 debt and actually made enough extra to invest in new equipment. The financial results made Estelita “really, really happy.” Even more important: what she learned about managing, inspiring and appreciating other people. “I really learned what it was like to work: to be a busser, a waitress, a manager, to struggle to maintain inventory, to give directions and have them not be followed. When I go into a store now, I have so much sympathy, because I know how hard it is!”

That same thoughtful intensity infuses everything she does, from tutoring at the Berkshire Farm for Boys to teaching in the Urban Scholars program, which gives students from greater New York a two-week summer plunge into Shakespeare at Williams. At the Berkshire Farm, Estelita reports, “I worked with these wonderful young men, but some of them were struggling with even third-grade arithmetic. You just realize the critical importance of fundamental education — and how cumulative life is.” Sometimes, of course, it’s cumulative in a good way: One of Estelita’s Urban Scholars mentees started at Williams this year.

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FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

BOB LIPP ’60

T H E W I L L I A M S C A M PA I G N

C H A I R M A N , S T. P A U L T R AV E L E R S C O M P A N I E S ; C H A I R , E X E C U T I V E C O M M I T T E E O F T H E B OA R D O F T R U S T E E S ; C O - C H A I R , T H E W I L L I A M S C A M PA I G N

We don’t call it “Climb Far” for nothing. We launched The Williams Campaign last fall with nearly $160 million in advance commitments. Since then, alumni, parents, foundations, and corporations have committed an additional $76 to strengthen everything we value most in a Williams education. As described elsewhere by President Morty Schapiro and my fellow trustee Jack Wadsworth — and enlivened by the vignettes of the exceptional students that encompass this report — all these gifts are already hard at work, making an essential difference inside and outside the Williams classroom. Though the campaign’s ultimate success will depend on truly extraordinary gifts such as those we’ve received in support of the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance, new scholarships, new professorships, and strengthening Williams’ endowment, nine of every ten Williams alumni are making their campaign gifts exclusively through the Alumni Fund, and these unrestricted gifts have helped set the fast pace of implementation for our strategic plan. We have every reason to be pleased, proud, and above all grateful to so many people who have joined The Williams Campaign in its critical early stages. Nevertheless, we still have $164 million to go. Now begins the harder work of reaching out to those who care deeply about Williams but may be less engaged or simply at a greater distance from the College. In the meantime, as one who gets to help decide how Williams will allocate this immense generosity, I’m most grateful. On behalf of every Williams professor and student who will benefit in countless ways from your efforts, I thank you for what you’ve done, are doing, and will do for this great college. Sincerely,

Bob Lipp Chairman, St. Paul Travelers Chair, Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees Co-Chair, The Williams Campaign

9

C A M PA I G N P R O G R E S S GIFTS AND PLEDGES AS OF DECEMBER 1, 2004 M U LT I -Y E A R C U M U L AT I V E T O TA L S

Class Year 1900

Alumni Fund $

-

Total Capital * $

Deferred Gifts

Grand Total $ 16,008,737

-

$ 16,008,737

1906

-

3,700

-

3,700

1907

-

142,773

-

142,773

1910

-

5,000

-

5,000

1913

200

21,743

-

21,943

1914

-

255,000

-

255,000

1917

-

1,727

-

1,727

1918

-

10,205

-

10,205

1920

100

-

-

100

1924

190

497,000

274,573

771,763

1925

150

195,000

-

195,150

1926

550

163,564

3,051

167,166

1927

525

60,060

-

60,585

1928

3,525

25,000

-

28,525

1929

3,420

61,520

-

64,940

1930

7,641

898,775

20,102

926,518

1931

16,641

2,866,629

-

2,883,270

1932

27,085

10,464

9

37,558

1933

33,451

5,003

-

38,454

1934

26,447

4,150

-

30,597

1935

54,137

136,643

-

190,780

1936

39,920

39,895

-

79,815

1937

31,228

15,042

220,000

266,2670

1938

71,629

368,413

201,039

641,081

1939

31,514

56,593

44,648

132,754

1940

36,738

1,080,728

49,020

1,166,486 1,250,642

1941

135,763

987,446

127,433

1942

175,4789

62,375

25,000

262,854

1943

107,249

103,989

1,676,136

1,887,374

1944

121,066

194,929

128,935

444,929

1945

90,890

20,929

2,059

113,878

1946

67,480

35,736

-

103,217

1947

43,825

1,469,731

-

1,513,556

1948

128,203

492,332

668,388

1,288,923

1949

109,592

439,580

52,660

601,833

1950

259,416

5,448,647

508,133

6,216,196

1951

236,006

919,495

193,265

1,348,766

1952

198,598

2,356,303

1,022,372

3,577,272

1953

531,582

3,625,249

1,782,228

5,939,059

1954

794,871

6,499,512

7,781,418

15,075,802

1955

321,449

426,988

2,627,602

3,376,039

1956

211,564

538,450

123,865

873,879

1957

183,341

45,63

217,693

446,665

1958

266,944

206,779

833,782

1,307,505

1959

262,086

725,980

-

988,067

1960

31,291,055

1,260,664

17,530,391

12,500,000

1961

317,540

1,629,658

5,269,555

7,216,753

1962

296,117

21,843,935

1,209,175

23,349,227

1963

254,984

1,511,880

15,000

1,781,864

1964

768,264

1,115,628

509,684

2,393,576

1965

583,971

3,971,872

-

4,555,843

1966

217,223

523,161

-

740,383

1967

180,823

613,321

-

794,143

1968

719,074

4,496,789

-

5,215,862

1969

221,005

766,336

-

987,341

1970

551,401

1,097,409

-

1,648,810

1971

348,928

559,919

-

908,846

1972

292,429

828,010

-

1,120,439

1973

480,217

713,732

-

1,193,949

1974

482,085

1,721,234

50,042

2,253,361

1975

787,352

7,234,755

4,000

8,026,107

1976

307,282

2,198,982

-

2,506,264

1977

1,023,561

2,250,348

635,000

3,908,910

1978

1,092,927

2,100,437

176,146

3,369,510

1979

1,485,342

3,049,281

52,654

4,587,277

1980

763,708

3,950,013

-

4,713,721

1981

441,351

2,898,765

-

3,340,116

1982

325,247

720,332

-

1,045,579

1983

417,799

543,162

-

960,961

1984

434,417

362,929

-

797,346

1985

495,752

48,231

-

543,983

1986

362,670

289,697

-

652,366

1987

197,224

206,563

-

403,788

1988

288,679

3,940

-

292,619

1989

281,779

60,948

-

342,726

1990

183,158

61,710

-

244,868

1991

119,113

19,263

-

138,376

1992

156,591

79,765

-

236,356

1993

183,978

12,485

-

196,463

1994

154,720

205,185

-

359,905

1995

39,482

1,580

-

41,062

1996

43,131

7,985

-

51,116

1997

47,001

5,645

-

52,646

1998

27,218

4,535

-

31,753

1999

28,786

2,708

-

31,494

2000

26,461

5,555

-

32,016

2001

41,638

2,843

-

44,481

2002

14,276

1,565

-

15,841

2003

7,027

8,016

-

15,043

2004

4,049

823

-

4,872

Alumni Total** Parents Friends Corp/Foundations

$21,386,938

$116,786,029

$55,013,404

$ 193,186,371

$ 2,141,426

$

9,244,325

$

104,720

$ 11,490,471

$ 21,096,652

$

2,128,726

$ 23,293,088

$ 1,254,046

$

$

-

Grand Total

$24,850,120

$ 153,454,121

$

*Includes realized bequests **Includes Honorary Alumni

67,710

6,327,115

$57,246,849

$

7,581,16

$235,551,091

A Message from Tom Balderston 2004 was one for Williams Alumni Fund record books: 63 percent of all Williams alumni (the highest percentage in a decade) gave $8.1 million in Fiscal Year 2004 — by far the largest Alumni Fund gift ever and $1.1 million, nearly 17 percent, more than last year. That so many have given so much to the Alumni Fund, which lies at the heart of The Williams Campaign, has enabled the College to move quickly and decisively to implement an ambitious strategic plan and realize a bold vision for the College’s future. We now have reason to hope that the Alumni Fund’s five-year Williams Campaign goal of $56 million can be achieved by 2008. With that milestone, thousands of Williams Alumni together will have contributed what may well be The Williams Campaign’s largest gift. To the more than 1,500 Alumni Fund volunteers who worked so hard to make this a banner year — and to the 14,000 alumni who answered their call — we thank you.

Tom Balderston ’78 Williams Alumni Fund Chair

Williams Campaign Strategic Initiatives and Goals ALUMNI FUND $56 MILLION

Unrestricted annual gifts from alumni, parents, and friends support all of the campaign objectives below. CURRICULAR INNOVATION $201.5 MILLION

Curricular Development $24,000,000 An Expanded Faculty $62,500,000 The Stetson/Sawyer Project $75,000,000

’62 Center for Theatre and Dance $40,000,000 STUDENT LIFE $142.5 MILLION

Need-based Scholarships $90,000,000 Residential Life Initiatives $16,500,000 A New Student Center $36,000,000 TOTAL $400,000,000

Williams College Board of Trustees 2004 – 2005 Mr. Morton Owen Schapiro President of the College Williamstown, MA Mr. Robert I. Lipp ’60 Chair of the Executive Committee, Hartford, CT

Mr. Michael E. Reed ’75 Silver Spring, MD Mr. Steven S. Rogers ’79 Evanston, IL Dr. Lucienne S. Sanchez ’79 Weston, MA

Ms. Barbara A. Austell ’75 Villanova, PA

Mr. Robert G. Scott ’68 New York, NY

Mr. Gregory M. Avis ’80 Palo Alto, CA

Mr. Brent E. Shay ’78 Boston, MA

Ms. Janet H. Brown ’73 Washington, DC

Mr. William E. Simon, Jr. ’73 Los Angeles, CA

Mr. E. David Coolidge, III ’65 Chicago, IL

Ms. A. Clayton Spencer ’77 Cambridge, MA

Dr. Delos M. Cosgrove, III ’62 Cleveland, OH

Ms. Cecily E. Stone ’73 Armonk, NY

Mr. Paul S. Grogan ’72 Boston, MA

Ms. Laurie J. Thomsen ’79 Concord, MA

Mr. Stephen Harty ’73 Irvington, NY

The Hon. Carl W. Vogt ’58 San Francisco, CA

Mr. Michael B. Keating ’62 Boston, MA

Mr. John S. Wadsworth, Jr. ’61 San Francisco, CA

Mr. Jonathan A. Kraft ’86 Foxboro, MA

Mr. Peter M. Wege, II ’71 Sedona, AZ

Ms. Mary T. McTernan ’76 Swarthmore, PA

Ms. JoAnn Muir Secretary Williamstown, MA

Mr. Paul Neely ’68 Chattanooga, TN

10

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

D AV E C O O L I D G E ’ 6 5

THE WILLIAMS COLLEGE ENDOWMENT

V I C E C H A I R M A N , W I L L I A M B L A I R A N D C O M PA N Y ; T R U S T E E O F T H E C O L L E G E AND CHAIRMAN OF THE TRUSTEE FINANCE COMMITTEE

The Williams College endowment had a positive return of 17.8 percent for the 12 months ended June 30, 2004, and a cumulative 182.3 percent over the past 10 years (or an average annual compound return of 12.2 percent.) The endowment benefited from two things: improved financial markets (a welcome change) and strong performances from its money managers (something we have almost started to take for granted!). Our 2004 return compares favorably to the return of our custom index, which includes returns of all relevant asset classes, of 13.9 percent, and to the S&P 500 Index. The endowment is invested across a spectrum of asset classes to achieve good returns while diversifying our risks. Our largest commitments are, in order, investments in stocks, bonds, hedge funds, private equity partnerships that invest in venture capital or buyouts, and real estate partnerships. While we are pleased with our return for fiscal year 2004, we don’t rely on these years of outsize returns, and we continue to manage all resources and our spending in a conservative manner. HOW ARE WE DOING FINANCIALLY?

Williams enjoys one of the strongest financial positions of any institution of higher education. The accompanying table (Figure 1) shows our endowment per student and how it compares with our select group of peer institutions. A large endowment per student means we can dedicate to each student the necessary resources to provide the best liberal arts education possible. Our current spending rate from the endowment generates approximately $25,000 per year per student — this plus additional funding through programs like the Alumni Fund and Parents Fund equal the “financial aid” that every student at Williams College receives, even those who pay full tuition.

Our financial strength derives from three sources: the financial support of alumni, parents, and friends; careful financial stewardship; and successful investing strategies. I’ll address our investing approach and record. Figure 2 shows the investment return of the endowment over the past ten years vs. the performance of the S&P 500 Index and NASDAQ Composite Index. As you can see, the Williams College endowment has outperformed both indices and with less volatility. This lower volatility is primarily due to careful diversification across asset classes and among managers within asset classes. Our money managers have been so successful over the past few years that many of them are not currently accepting new clients. The success of our program is therefore hard, if not impossible, for other schools to match.

$/STUDENT

F I G U R E 1 : E N D OW M E N T P E R ST U D E N T (J U N E 2 0 03 )

11

That said, we are not resting on our laurels — the Finance Committee continues to spend most of its time seeking out outstanding investment managers in asset classes that we believe will enhance our risk-adjusted returns. We have organized subcommittees of dedicated and knowledgeable alumni who assist the Finance Committee in these efforts, and we are grateful for their efforts. I would like to thank Jim Moltz ’54, chair of the Committee for Publicly Traded Securities; Bill Simon ’73, who chairs the Real Estate Committee and with Pete Kiernan ’75 co-chairs the Special Strategies Committee (Hedge Funds); and Mike Eisenson ’77, chair of the Committee for Private Equity Investments. Each of these alumni, and their volunteer committees, continues to serve Williams College with distinction, and each has helped shape the investment

F I G U R E 1 : E N D O W M E N T P E R S T U D E N T, J U N E 3 0 , 2 0 0 2

F I G U R E 2 : G R O W T H O F E N D O W M E N T V S . M A R K E T I N D I C E S ( 1 9 9 4 S TA R T F O R A L L 3 P O R T F O L I O S I S S E T T O 1 0 0 )

Williams Endowment Returns S&P 500 Index NASDAQ Composite Index

395

306 292

Williams’ fiscal year runs from July 1–June 30.

strategies that have produced strong returns and the financial base for the College as it implements its strategic plan. HOW DID WE GET HERE?

Strong investment performance and disciplined spending are important parts of the equation. Williams employs a “total return” strategy, expecting to earn, on average, 8 percent and taking around 5 percent from the endowment each year to pay operating costs of the College. In years like the past one, when our performance is particularly good, we “save” for the future, and in low-return or down years we dip into our “savings” (as we did in fiscal years 2001 and 2002).

The third and most essential part of the equation is philanthropy. Our most important “assets” are alumni, parents, and friends of Williams at all levels of support who continue to generously give their time and their money to the College. Williams College simply would not be what it is today without the gifts of alumni, parents, and friends who have always wanted Williams to be even better today and tomorrow. Figure 3 shows how much smaller our endowment would be today if we had stopped receiving new gifts in 1954. Our high annual participation in the Alumni Fund and Parents Fund relieves pressure on the endowment by providing a steady stream of money that the College can spend immediately in ways that best suit the needs of our students.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR STUDENTS?

Every gift, large or small, is important to The Williams Campaign. Campaign support from alumni, parents, and friends, coupled with financial discipline and investing success, will make our strategic plan a reality. The success of the strategic plan means each student today and tomorrow, as with the students who preceded them, can make the most of one of the best liberal arts educations in the world. Sincerely,

F I G U R E 3 : A C T U A L E N D O W M E N T V S . E N D O W M E N T VA L U E W I T H O U T N E W G I F T S

With New Gifts Included Without Gifts

($/1,000)

$1,056

$249

Williams’ fiscal year runs from July 1–June 30.

12

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

J A C K WA D S W O R T H ’ 6 1

T H E W I L L I A M S C A M PA I G N

A DV I S O R Y D I R E C T O R , M O R G A N S TA N L E Y, A N D PA R T N E R , M A N I T O U V E N T U R E S ; T R U S T E E O F T H E C O L L E G E AND CHAIRMAN OF THE TRUSTEE BUDGET AND FINANCIAL PLANNING COMMITTEE

I begin, as in previous years, with three cheers for Dave Coolidge ’65, Chairman of the Trustee Finance Committee, whose leadership and steady hand sustained Williams’ endowment through a tough stretch in the market to end the past year with a remarkable 17.8 percent return. I also thank the thousands of Williams alumni, parents, and friends whose gifts made The Williams Campaign’s first year a strikingly successful one. Unprecedented philanthropy — and Williams’ careful stewardship of that philanthropy — have enabled us to report early progress in every major campaign objective presented below. HOW IS WILLIAMS SPENDING ITS MONEY?

CURRICULAR INITIATIVES

At once aggressively and conservatively. (See Figure 1.) As in past years, Williams spent most of its operating resources directly on students, professors, and educational facilities. In 2003 – 2004, a full 41 percent of the operating budget went exclusively to instruction, room and board, and student services. Another 15 percent underwrote Williams’ financial aid program, and 9 percent paid for our library, technology, and museum costs.

& FACULTY SUPPORT

These core expenditures have risen over the past few years to fuel our strategic plan to renew Mark Hopkins’ educational vision — a Williams education that equips our students to lead effectively in an increasingly complex and challenging world. To realize the plan in its entirety — and to sustain these new commitments over the long term — is the goal of The Williams Campaign. In the meantime, we’re paying keen attention to day-to-day expenditures to make sure these improvements are responsibly implemented and can be sustained. Now that our investment in 30 new faculty positions is nearly complete, the College has committed to holding non-faculty staffing levels constant and holding growth in non-personnel expenses to a minimum. THE ALUMNI FUND AND THE PARENTS FUND: DRIVING THE STRATEGIC PLAN GOAL $56 MILLION

The Williams Campaign’s cornerstone is increased support for the Williams Alumni Fund and Parents Fund. Nine of every ten Williams alumni are making their campaign gifts exclusively through the Alumni Fund. And all Williams alumni and parents — including those who make major commitments for specific initiatives — are asked to support the campaign through more generous and consistent gifts to the funds. Why? For several excellent reasons. Underwriting roughly 6 percent of our annual operating budget, the Alumni Fund supports all of The Williams Campaign’s major objectives. We’ve been able to jump-start critical campaign initiatives — from increasing the number of professors to making substantial student housing improvements — all because Alumni Fund and Parents Fund gifts have given us the financial flexibility to do so. Together these annual giving efforts have now contributed $24 million of The Williams Campaign’s current total. The sum of all Alumni Fund and Parents Fund gifts now represent the largest campaign gift to date.

13

GOAL $86.5 MILLION

The initial surge of campaign support has already enabled us to expand our faculty by 15 percent, resulting in many more classes with fewer than 20 students. We’ve also increased the number of Oxford-inspired tutorials, with much of that increase aimed at students in their critical sophomore year. Additional curricular initiatives included new interdisciplinary programs and experiential opportunities as well as new requirements in writing and quantitative reasoning. STUDENT LIFE INITIATIVES GOAL $106.5 MILLION

Complementing these academic initiatives are efforts to enrich the Williams experience beyond the classroom. Williams has embarked on a set of important student life initiatives that will provide students new opportunities for growth, encouraging them to challenge themselves — and one another — outside the classroom. Extending Our Commitment to Need-based Financial Aid $90 Million

Excellent students from the broadest range of backgrounds are as important in educating each other as are their great professors. Williams selects these students from the largest possible pool, which includes many who can’t afford to pay full tuition. Williams is one of just a handful of American colleges and universities that admits students strictly on a need-blind basis and meets 100 percent of demonstrated financial need. In 2003 and 2004, 42 percent of our students received financial aid, and we expect that number to rise to 45 percent by the end of the campaign in 2008. At the same time, we’ve increased scholarship grants and minimized debt burdens for all students, particularly our most needy students. Williams also has chosen to extend need-blind admission to all qualifying international matriculants. While the proportion of international students remains steady at 6 percent of the total student population, their academic credentials are absolutely outstanding, and they come from many more countries and cultures, enriching the Williams experience for all students. Residential Life Initiatives $16.5 Million

Thanks to early campaign support, the College now has a director of campus life and four campus life coordinators who provide professional resources and training for all students who serve as upperclass residential staff, encouraging and

promoting additional learning opportunities for students outside the classroom. The CLCs, who are young staff members, are already making a difference in the quality of residential community life at Williams. Targeted improvements to specific student residences, including Mission Park and Prospect, will support these new programs. NEW CAPITAL PROJECTS GOAL $151 MILLION

Three major building projects will create environments where students and faculty can do their best work to realize the curricular and extracurricular goals outlined above. ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance $40 Million

In April 2003, Williams broke ground for the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance. Designed by William Rawn, architect of Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, this state-of-the-art facility will challenge Williams students and faculty in theatre and dance to create, experiment, and collaborate. The ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance is currently scheduled to open for inaugural student performances this coming spring. For more information visit www.williams.edu/home/construction/theatre/. A New Student Center $36 Million

President Schapiro describes this essential project, and the reasons why it’s a top Williams priority, in his essay beginning on page 1. For more information visit www.williams.edu/go/studentcenter/. The Stetson-Sawyer Project $75 Million

Stetson Hall and Sawyer Library share support of the humanities and social sciences. We plan to renew both in an efficient, inviting, integrated complex that will promote opportunities for collaborative study, provide space for library acquisitions, and encourage interaction among students and professors across academic disciplines. With campus-wide input — and inspired solutions from our architects, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson — Stetson–Sawyer will become a thriving center for the humanities and social sciences at Williams. For more information visit www.williams.edu/go/stetsonsawyer/. REVENUES TO SUPPORT THE OPERATING BUDGET: FY 2003–2004

Strategic plan expenditures challenge us to maintain prudent financial management. At the same time, we are determined to increase strategic spending in key areas without burdening families with steep tuition hikes. Indeed, although we’re

F I G U R E 1 : O P E R AT I N G E X P E N D I T U R E S F Y 2 0 0 1 – 2 0 0 4

Operating Expenditures ($1000s) FY2001

FY2002

Growth Rates

FY2003

FY2004

% of Total

1-year

3-year *

Undergraduate Instruction/Research

$

33,963

$ 36,900

$ 39,677

$ 41,469

31.3%

4.5%

6.9%

Scholarships & Fellowships

$

14,637

$

16,119

$

17,933

$

19,401

14.7%

8.2%

9.8%

Student Room & Board

$

11,725

$

11,781

$

12,632

$

13,099

9.9%

3.7%

3.8%

CORE ACTIVITIES

$ 60,325

55.9%

5.3%

7.0%

Buildings & Grounds

$

Administration

$

Technology

$

5,259

$

5,879

$

Alumni Relations & Development

$

4,871

$

5,850

$

Student Services

$

4,728

$

5,284

$

Athletics

$

4,449

$

4,771

$

Libraries

$

4,429

$

4,660

$

Auxiliaries

$

3,647

$

4,020

Graduate Programs

$

1,574

$

Museum

$

1,463

$

Security

$

1,196

Health Services

$

1,107

OTHER ACTIVITIES

$ 47,984

$ 52,339

TOTAL

$108,309

$ 117,139

$64,800

$ 70,242

$ 73,969

7,589

$

7,944

$

8,430

$

8,522

6.4%

1.1%

3.9%

7,672

$

7,951

$

8,122

$

8,709

6.6%

7.2%

4.3%

6,888

$

6,685

5.1%

-2.9%

8.3%

6,260

$

6,882

5.2%

9.9%

12.2%

6,162

$

6,623

5.0%

7.5%

11.9%

5,056

$

5,441

4.1%

7.6%

6.9%

5,065

$

5,241

4.0%

3.5%

5.8%

$

4,046

$

3,430

2.6%

-15.2%

-2.0%

1,898

$

2,076

$

2,232

1.7%

7.5%

12.3%

1,585

$

1,720

$

1,900

1.4%

10.5%

9.1%

$

1,283

$

1,360

$

1,366

1.0%

.4%

4.5%

$

1,214

$

1,283

$

1,295

1.0%

.9%

5.4%

$ 56,468

$ 58,326

44.1%

3.3%

6.7%

$126,710

$132,295

100.0%

4.4%

6.9%

*compounded annually Note: Effective 2002 – 03; $1.8 million of B&G expenses reported outside of operating budget as capital renewal; $1.8 million has been removed from B&G expenses in 1999 – 00, 2000 – 01, and 2001 – 02 to facilitate comparison

holding steady now, over the past five years the College has reduced the share of student charges in operating income from 62 percent to about 53 percent. We look to The Williams Campaign to secure the strategic plan’s success, and here we have good reasons for optimism. Launched last September with $160 million in advance commitments, the campaign has received an additional $76 million in gifts, pledges, and grants from alumni, parents, friends, foundations, and corporations and now stands at $236 million toward its five-year, $400 million goal. Alumni Fund and Parents Fund

The 2004 Alumni Fund’s total of $8.1 million represented a 17 percent increase over the 2003 Fund. Participation was 63.01 percent, the highest since 1989! The Parents Fund put in a strong 2004 showing with $700,300 in gifts from 34 percent of parents of undergraduates and an impressive 583 parents of alumni.

50th and 25th Reunion Funds

With a total 50th Reunion Fund gift of $17.4 million, the Class of 1954 bested the previous record of $16.59 million set by the Class of 1950. And with a total 25th Reunion Fund of $4.6 million, the Class of 1979 ranks #4 among 25th Reunion efforts (’75 holds the record at $10.5 million.) The Class of ’79 set the all-time record for any class with an Alumni Fund total of $515,000. Planned Giving

Life income gifts and realized bequests continue to be an important source of support for Williams. In FY 04 the College was the beneficiary of $5.7 million in bequests. Williams led our peers in new life income gifts, with $12 million donated through gift annuities, pooled income funds, and charitable trusts.

On June 11 the College inaugurated the Ephraim Williams Society — a new bequest and planned giving recognition group. The society was launched with more than 1,300 charter members who have life income gift arrangements with Williams or have notified the College that they plan to include it as a beneficiary of their estates. Membership, which is open to everyone, includes alumni and honorary alumni from the classes of 1917 through 2002 as well as faculty, staff, and Williamstown residents. I close by thanking you for your unstinting support. The initiatives outlined here — and the vision to carry them through for present and future Williams students — wouldn’t be possible without your assistance and your confidence in our stewardship of the College’s resources. Sincerely,

F I G U R E 2 : C A P I TA L B U D G E T E X P E N D I T U R E S F Y 2 0 0 0 – 2 0 0 4

Capital Budget Expenditures ($1000s) FY2000

FY2001

FY2002

FY2003

FY2004

5-yr Avg

Renovation, Repair and Adaptation

$ 7,783

$

8,315

$ 12,529

$ 13,450

$ 8,675

$

10,150

New Construction

$ 9,262

$

7,810

$ 9,572

$ 21,645

$ 32,438

$

16,152

TOTAL Spending

$17,045

$ 16,125

$ 22,101

$35,095

$ 41,113

$ 26,303

on Capital Projects

F I G U R E 3 : R E V E N U E S T O S U P P O R T T H E O P E R AT I N G B U D G E T F Y 2 0 0 2 – 2 0 0 4

FY2002

FY2003

FY2004

Revenue

% of

Revenue

% of

Revenue

% of

($1000s)

Total

($1000s)

Total

($1000s)

Total

Student Charges

$ 62,358

52%

$ 64,895

51%

$ 69,720

53%

Endowment Funds Made Available to Operating Budget

$

31,711

27%

$ 42,190

33%

$ 40,622

31%

Alumni & Parents Funds

$

7,538

6%

$

8,179

6%

$

8,804

7%

Other Gifts & Grants

$

9,293

8%

$

7,413

6%

$

7,517

6%

Miscellaneous

$

7,107

6%

$

4,896

4%

$

5,931

4%

TOTAL

$118,938

$126,835

NOTE: Total gifts from all private sources equalled $40,108,496 in FY2002, $41,563,280 in FY2003 and $46,518,742 in FY2004.

$132,594

14

PRESORTED FIRST-CLASS MAIL U.S. POSTAGE

Williams College Alumni Relations and Development 75 Park Street Williamstown, MA 01267

“The Williams Campaign is allowing us to take active steps to enrich the Williams experience outside the classroom. Though this work is still in its early stages, we are beginning to address the wonderful challenge of increasing the ways in which students serve each other as ‘professors’ in this ‘second half’ of a Williams education.” PRESIDENT MORTY SCHAPIRO

Design: Plainspoke/Portsmouth, NH Photography: Kevin Kennefick Illustrations: Kevin Sprouls and Polshek Partnership Architects (renderings and floor plans)

PAID N. READING, MA PERMIT NO. 140