FAS Lags Behind In Fund Campaign

Despite Wednesday's announcement of a $39.2 million share of the pledge the Loeb family has made to Harvard, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) is lagging behind in the $2.1 billion University Campaign, Associate Dean Susan K. Feagin told the Faculty last week.

At $350 million, FAS has achieved 36 percent of its goal. The Campaign is at 41 percent of the total goal, she said.

Without the FAS contribution, the Campaign would be at 45 percent of its goal, Feagin said.

According to Feagin, two difficulties have emerged: most donations are in the form of pledges instead of cash and there is a lack of large gifts.

"FAS is a little behind," Feagin told professors at Tuesday's Faculty meeting. "We have not had very many big gifts."

The Campaign has had 12 gifts of $10 million or more, but only three have benefited FAS.

Feagin said because FAS comprises about half of the total Campaign goal, it could be expected that five or six of those large gifts would be to FAS.

Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles, who says he is spending one to two days a week fund-raising, said in an interview three weeks ago that progress has been frustrating at times.

He noted that most of the donations came in the form of pledges rather than cash and so it is sometimes difficult to point to concrete accomplishments the Campaign has achieved to date.

This can make it hard to point out evidence of progress to potential donors, Knowles said.

Memorial Hall, where the Loker Commons and new first-year dining hall are being built, has turned out to be the exception rather than the rule, Knowles said.

Feagin is optimistic about the Campaign but said in an interview Tuesday thatit is too early to assess whether any areas needwork.

"We've only formally been going for one year,"she said. "We don't know yet whether there are anyareas to be concerned about."

At the meeting, Feagin said the Loeb gift couldhelp the FAS campaign by setting an example foralumni giving.

She noted that 53 percent of living alumni madedonations last year. That percentage of graduatecontribution is second only to Princeton.

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences andlibrary campaigns, which are part of FAS, are alsojust getting underway and beginning to contributeto the total, she said

"We've only formally been going for one year,"she said. "We don't know yet whether there are anyareas to be concerned about."

At the meeting, Feagin said the Loeb gift couldhelp the FAS campaign by setting an example foralumni giving.

She noted that 53 percent of living alumni madedonations last year. That percentage of graduatecontribution is second only to Princeton.

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences andlibrary campaigns, which are part of FAS, are alsojust getting underway and beginning to contributeto the total, she said