9/25/07 - $50 Million Goal Announced at Campaign Celebration Kick-Off
Mr. James P. Jenkins ’66, Chairman of the Blair Academy Board of Trustees, announced a $50 million goal for Ever Always: The Campaign for Blair on September 25 during the Celebration Kick-Off at the Central Park Boat House in New York City.

Two hundred Blair alumni, parents, and friends attended the dinner, which featured music and dancing by the renowned orchestra of Stan Rubin ’51. Guests enjoyed the perfect fall weather on the patio overlooking the lake and viewed the premier of the new Blair campaign video.

To date, Blair has raised more than $31 million in gifts and pledges toward its Campaign goal. This total includes commitments of $1 million or more from seven individuals and families as well as 90 gifts larger than $50,000. The three featured objectives of the campaign are to improve activity and athletic space for students; strengthen the endowment for faculty and student support; and build a $2 million-a-year annual giving program. The campaign is scheduled to be completed by June 2009.

“This campaign is certainly more than the sum of its parts,” Blair Headmaster Chan Hardwick noted. “It is about fulfilling our mission of inviting students ‘to come, to study, to learn’ in a school community that allows them to do just that. Not all learning takes place in the classroom, and we must provide the space necessary for students to be productively engaged and learning during what the faculty call ‘the second half of our educational day.’ This is an exciting time for Blair Academy; the entire school community is looking forward to the transformation now beginning to take place on campus.”

View more photos of the kick-off celebration.

View special on-line video of the campaign kick-off event.

Read remarks by Mr. John C. Bogle ’47.