For Immediate Release: January 9, 2006
Contact: Tom Krattenmaker
610-328-8534
tkratte1@swarthmore.edu
http://www.swarthmore.edu/news/

Swarthmore's 'Parrish Challenge' Exceeds $4 Million Goal, Secures Funding for Comprehensive Renovation Project

Swarthmore's "Parrish Challenge" has raised more than $4.4 million for the renovation of the College's flagship building, Parrish Hall, allowing the institution to claim a $1 million challenge grant from the Kresge Foundation.

The year-long challenge, which ended on Dec. 31, 2005, generated an outpouring of support from more than 1,600 alumni, parents, and friends of the College. Gifts and pledges came from classes ranging from 1928 to 2005 and from alumni around the world. The Parrish Challenge Committee, including more than 40 alumni, spearheaded the fund-raising effort.

The central space on Parrish's first floor, which has previously served as a student dining area and as home to the Admissions Office, has been transformed into a bustling student center housing activities, organizations, and an expanded post office. The Admissions Office has moved to a revitalized commons on Parrish's second floor. In addition, the renovation project has updated the building's safety and security infrastructure.

"The response from the College community has been extraordinary," said committee co-chair Larry Shane, a member of the Class of 1956. "One of the goals of the challenge was to elicit broad-based support, not just to generate gifts from a handful of donors. We have far exceeded the participation goal we set for ourselves at the outset."

The goal of the Parrish Challenge was to raise $4 million in 2005 in order to claim the $1 million Kresge grant. The money raised for the challenge brings to $208 million the amount raised toward the $230 million goal of the College's current "Meaning of Swarthmore" fund-raising campaign.