Then, in July 2010, Potsdam kicked off the Leadership Phase of the then $25 million campaign. The Campaign Steering Committee was appointed to oversee campaign work. • Stephanie Blythe ’92 and T. C. Boyle ’68 accepted invitations to serve as honorary campaign co-chairs. • Lisa Vroman ’79 and Foundation Board Trustee Michael Galane ’74 accepted the roles of national campaign co-chairs and began working closely with the committee.
Why the tree?
The common graphic element that runs through the campaign is a stylized illustration of a maple tree. There were a couple of reasons that this was consistent with the campaign messaging: 1. The maple tree is representational of our geographic region, it’s a nod to our Canadian family, and North Country maple syrup is world class. 2. More importantly, trees often represent families. The word “family” is the most beloved term used by alumni when describing the Potsdam experience. Therefore, as we begin Potsdam’s third century, we do so recognizing that our greatest strength is the family members from our past, our present and our future.
What’s in a tagline?
A tagline captures the essence of a campaign in just a simple phrase. Other taglines that were considered: “A Natural Ascent” “Preserving the Legacy: Ensuring the Future” “The Nature of Giving” “Beyond the Boundaries” “Building on Strength”
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y July 2011, the Leadership Phase of the campaign was in full swing, with a tagline appropriately mirroring the actions of the campaign and the College. “Take the Lead” was adopted as the campaign tagline, and supporting materials were created for use in Leadership Phase conversations. Year one of the Leadership Phase surpassed all expectations and benchmarks. $4.8 million was raised in gifts and commitments. The campaign had now raised $8,088,284. N. Brock (Hon. ’84) and Janie (Hon. ’88) McElheran became the second milliondollar donors to the campaign, through realized planned gifts totaling more than $1.6 million. Then, the following year, another $6.25 million was raised, which brought the campaign total to $14,341,138. Two more million-dollar gift commitments were received: • Dr. Gary C. Jaquay ’67 created the Adeline Maltzan Crane Chorus Tour Fund and the Domenic J. Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize Fund. • Donald (Hon. ’54) & Kathy ’54 (Kofoed) Lougheed established the Lougheed Festival of the Arts. Several other notable gifts are received: • Dorothy (Albrecht) Gregory ’61 es-
tablished the Dorothy Gregory Visiting Conductor Fund, which partners with the Adeline Maltzan Crane Chorus Tour Fund to bring distinguished conductors to The Crane School of Music for festival performances by the Crane Chorus and Crane Symphony Orchestra, and to fund travel for major Crane Chorus performances to venues outside Potsdam. • Jerry ’68 and Carolyn Zwaga established the Jerry & Carolyn Zwaga Study Abroad Fund. • Dr. G. Michael and Barbara Maresca established the Community Performance Series Guest Artist Fund. By July 2012, the College was planning for the Public Phase of the Campaign. A final goal had yet to be confirmed, but the fundraising achievements continued to be unprecedented. The Foundation Board established the Third Century Endowment, the first-ever unrestricted endowment for the College’s greatest needs, after receiving an inaugural gift from the Linden Family. And in September of that same year, PACES joined the million-dollar campaign donor rolls, also in support of the Annual Fund for Potsdam. Campaign goals were being consistently broken. As Galane recalled, “There are always fears or concerns whenever any goal is set. There was much discussion and consideration, given the financial uncertainty of the time. Our initial goal of $25 million was debated and seen as aggressive for our third campaign; however, we set specific thresholds to review before setting the final goal, and the trustees agreed in the end that we could support an increased goal of $27 million, given the results of the campaign to date and external benchmarks.”