The College received a $25 million gift to support the construction of the first purpose-built site for the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA), the renewal of athletics and wellbeing facilities, and the funding of the all-grant financial aid program, it announced in a press release on April 16.
“I am deeply grateful for this extraordinary commitment to expanding access, learning opportunities, and wellness for all of our students,” President Maud S. Mandel wrote in an email to the Record. “Thanks to this support, Williams will be able to take a significant step forward in reaching many of our ambitious goals as we continue to educate and expand opportunities for all.”
The gift came from a couple with a history of donations to the College, who wished to remain anonymous and wanted to further support Mandel’s priorities, Vice President for College Relations Megan Morey told the Record. “They were ready to talk about their next philanthropic commitment to Williams and spoke to [Mandel] about what’s important to her and where the most impact would be,” she said. “That led to these three priorities.”
“Historically, we’ve had alumni who really believe in the direction of the institution,” Morey continued. “The more they believe in the leadership of the institution, the more likely they are to give unrestricted, and to say to the President: ‘I want to make this gift, and I’m really leaving it up to you to decide how it’s used.’”
Of the $25 million donation, $10 million is earmarked for the construction of the new WCMA building, projected to open in 2027 as the first purpose-built facility for the museum. Morey said that the College intends to fund $100 million of the project’s $175 million cost with donations, in line with a larger goal to finance capital initiatives primarily through donations, instead of endowment draw and debt.
“One of the things that’s really become clear between what our aspirations are in the [strategic] plan and our financial model … is that [for] any new initiatives or buildings, we need to rely on fundraising as the primary source,” Morey said. “The endowment can’t cover everything going forward… We need to either stop doing things or fundraise to do new things or build new buildings.”
Another $10 million of the donation will go towards the renewal of the College’s athletics and wellness facilities. Part of that sum will help fund the construction of the new Multipurpose Recreation Center (MRC) following the sudden closure of the Towne Field House last year. “The MRC is really to help fill the gap that the demise of the Field House created for our students, so that we can serve them whilst we’re figuring out where we’re going to build a new Field House,” Morey said. The College plans to move activities that used to be located in the Field House to the MRC when it opens in late 2025, the College said in a press release on April 8.
The donation will also help fund a long-term program study by design firm Perkins & Will to evaluate the future facilities needs of the College’s programs in athletics and wellness and the construction cost of capital projects that will be recommended by the study. “This will be a big all-campus initiative — it’s about meeting the needs of all community members, from varsity teams to recreational users,” Assistant Vice President for College Relations Mark Robertson ’02. One project likely to result from the program analysis, Morey added, is a new permanent field house to replace Towne.
“For athletics [renewal], this is the early days,” Morey said. “We’re getting these early gifts that are supporting what will be a very comprehensive initiative called ‘Athletics and Wellness.’”
Finally, $5 million of the donation will add to the existing set of endowed scholarship funds that support the College’s all-grant financial aid initiative. Unlike some other donations towards financial aid, which establish scholarships with specific preferences for recipients from a given geographical area or pursuing a certain field of study, this gift supports grants for any student at the College who receives financial aid. “Gifts like these shore up and allow us to make permanent these commitments [to all-grant aid],” Robertson said.
In its press release on the donation, the College wrote that it intends to increase the portion of financial aid expenditures covered by endowed funds.
“Having a robust financial aid budget is critical to our efforts to attract and enroll the most promising students from around the world, and to ensuring that all those who attend Williams can take advantage of the full range of opportunities available here,” Dean of Admission and Student Financial Services Liz Creighton ’01 wrote in an email to the Record. “Our aspirations to endow an ever greater portion of the financial aid program are rooted in our desire to ensure that Williams’ doors always remain open to talented students regardless of their financial circumstances, and that our financial aid awards remain the gold standard in higher ed.”
