Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
The Board of Managers, at their meeting this past weekend, approved a balanced budget. Member Gil Kemp ’72 also offered a ten-to-one matching donation to fundraise for the college’s no-loan policy.
Key items in the budget include a 4.6% tuition increase and the funding for a dome to be built for the new telescope that will be installed in the Science Center. Another agenda item included approval from the Board of Managers for the college to continue conversations with the developers of the Swarthmore Inn.
The 10-1 matching donation arose from discussions about fundraising to cover the costs of Swarthmore’s new no-loan policy. Kemp offered to match tenfold money raised by current students for the policy, which may cost up to $1.7 million each year and require an endowment of $40 million to sustain it, according to Student Council President Peter Gardner ‘08. In addition to this student-driven initiative, fundraising for this project will come from the endowment and annual fund gifts.
More than just helping the college’s ability to meet the financial burdens of its policy, Kemp’s donation also “separates Swarthmore from other schools, [because it is] the only one where the community is behind it,” said Gardner. “This is made possible by Kemp’s match.” A significant part of this community support is the involvement of the student body in the process, so that “it is not just seen as a top-down effort,” said Sven Udekwu ’09, Vice President of Student Council.
Although Student Council is still in the process of generating creative ideas for fundraising, it hopes to begin soon.
