Application & Funding

Apply to Organize Your Own Event!

All members of the Swarthmore College campus community may propose an event for any semester in which they are on campus. In addition to a complete application, a faculty partner is required for all proposals. The Cooper Foundation will pay all costs related to the public portions of approved events, including artists/performance/speakers fees and advertising costs.

For information about the application process, please review the application guidelines (pdf). If you would like to submit a proposal, print and fill out the application form (pdf) in advance of the deadline. If your application is approved for funding, then you will want to reference the checklist (pdf) of tasks to complete in order to ensure a successful event.

Think Big: Cooper Foundation of Swarthmore College Sesquicentennial Celebration Series

The William J. Cooper Foundation invites you to celebrate the Swarthmore College sesquicentennial in 2014. This request for proposals straddles two academic years. The Cooper Foundation enables the Swarthmore community to reach into every area of scholarship and creativity across the globe, providing funding for lectures, symposia, conferences and performances. As our 150th anniversary nears, the committee looks forward to a yearlong celebration of inspiring events imagined and presented by staff, students and faculty.

We encourage you to think expansively, inventively and collaboratively to propose events reflecting a future characterized by President Rebecca Chopp as one of "global connections, filled with diverse peoples and perspectives, and dominated by the acceleration of technological change." We are living at a pivotal time in history both for the college and the world. Our sesquicentennial celebration, when recalled in another 150 years, will reflect our community's awareness of and ability to engage the possibilities of our time. Students, staff and faculty should begin imagining and planning events with a deadline for the first round of applications due Monday February 18, 2013. Proposals should be aimed for second semester of the 2013-14 academic year or first semester of the 2014-15 academic year. (Cooper will take the unusual step of funding across two fiscal years when necessary for the Sesquicentennial.)

The application form and detailed information may be found on the Cooper Foundation Website.

All disciplines, departments, campus organizations in addition to Off Campus Learning and community outreach initiatives are encouraged to Think Big.

Maurice Eldridge, co-chair
Logan Grider, co-chair

Serendipity Fund

The Serendipity Fund was designed to support events that could not have been foreseen within the time frame required to apply for a Cooper Grant. Examples of serendipity include, but are not limited to, unexpected proximity and/or availability of a speaker, timeliness of subject matter, coordination with other significant events on campus (including events funded by Cooper), and/or coordination with events taking place in the greater Philadelphia area. Awards typically range between $500 and $1000. Requests in excess of these amounts are likely more appropriate for a Cooper grant and should be reconsidered for the following year. The same standards of excellence and preeminence guiding Cooper grants apply to those of Serendipity, and applicants should make a strong case for the serendipitous nature of the event. Completed applications should be submitted to both Maurice Eldridge and Logan Grider for consideration.