News & Publications

St. John's College Surpasses $125 Million Dollar Goal
"With a Clear and Single Purpose": The Campaign for St. John's College Tops $133 Million

FOR RELEASE: July 26, 2007
CONTACT: Anna Sochocky, 505-984-6102
asochocky@sjcsf.edu

Santa Fe, NM - Today, St. John's College announced that it has raised more than $134 million, exceeding its planned $125 million capital campaign goal - thanks to the generosity of alumni, parents, friends of the college, and foundations. Highlights of the campaign include:

  • $41.3 million against a goal of $33 million to support need-based financial aid;
  • $5 million to fund the new Betty and Norman Levan Hall, a new academic building that will house classrooms and faculty offices serving as the home for the Graduate Institute in Santa Fe;
  • $10 million to finance a new 60-bed residence center on the Santa Fe campus allowing St. John's to house 80% of its student body.

"The financial support and commitment of alumni, friends, and foundations generated through the capital campaign will allow St. John's College to continue to play a vital role in higher education in New Mexico and the country by preparing students for a lifetime of learning and contribution," said Michael Peters, president of St. John's College - Santa Fe.

St. John's College is a co-educational, four-year liberal arts college grounded in the distinctive "great books" curriculum. St. John's College is one college with two campuses located in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Annapolis, Maryland.

"The Santa Fe community has always been a great asset to our college, and we hope that an improved St. John's will be an equal asset to the community," said St. John's Board of Visitors and Governors Chair, Sharon Bishop.

In addition to the undergraduate program, St. John's - Santa Fe offers two graduate degrees: a Master of Arts in Liberal Arts, and a Master of Arts in Eastern Classics.

"St. John's is committed to the intellectual discourse that is central to our democracy and to the intellectual traditions that have made the world what it is today. I congratulate St. John's on the success of its recently concluded capital campaign and join the college in thanking all those who took part," said New Mexico Cabinet Secretary of Higher Education Reed Dasenbrock, Ph.D.

The "With a Clear and Single Purpose" Capital Campaign formally ended on June 30, 2008. The college will celebrate the successful completion of the campaign on Friday, July 25, 2008. Expected attendees at the celebración include Santa Fe Mayor David Coss and New Mexico Secretary of Higher Education Reed Dasenbrock.

For more information about The Campaign for St. John's College, please contact Anna Sochocky, Director of Communications and External Relations.

Key Participants in the "With a Clear and Single Purpose" Capital Campaign

The following people will be available for comment about the Campaign, as well as any aspect of St. John's College. To set up an interview, contact Anna Sochocky.

Michael Peters, President of St. John's College - Santa Fe
A distinguished military career and nine years in leadership positions at the Council on Foreign Relations preceded Michael Peters' appointment as the sixth president of the Santa Fe campus. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Mr. Peters began his career as a platoon leader in Vietnam and rose through the ranks to become a colonel. Before his retirement from the military, he served as chief of staff at West Point, where he had previously taught economics. In 1995, he joined the Council on Foreign Relations and was named executive vice president in 2002. In addition to his bachelor's degree, he also holds a master's degree in economics from the University of Washington.

Christopher Nelson, President of St. John's College - Annapolis
Christopher Nelson graduated from the Santa Fe campus in 1970, earned a law degree at the University of Utah, and embarked on a career in the law. He practiced law in Chicago for 18 years and was the chair of his firm when he left the practice to become the president of St. John's in Annapolis in June 1991. He has been a member of the Maryland Independent College and University Association (MICUA) since 1991, and is active in the Annapolis Group, a consortium of 112 of the nation's leading liberal arts colleges.

Ronald Fielding, "With a Clear and Single Purpose" (2003 to 2008) Campaign Chair
A 1970 graduate of St. John's, Ronald H. Fielding is senior vice president of OppenheimerFunds Inc. Previously, Mr. Fielding, a nationally recognized expert in the area of municipal bond funds, was president and founder of the three Rochester Funds, which he sold to OppenheimerFunds in 1996 and continues to manage for the firm. He earned a master's degree in economics and an M.B.A. from the University of Rochester. In 2003, Mr. Fielding made what was at the time the single largest gift from an individual donor to the college: a $10 million gift to the Campaign to support financial aid. A member of the college's Board of Visitors and Governors, Mr. Fielding served as chair of the Campaign.

Sharon Bishop, Board Chair, St. John's College Board of Visitors and Governors
After graduating from St. John's College in 1965, Sharon Bishop earned a master's degree from the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research at Bryn Mawr College. She has dedicated her career to applied social research, program evaluation, and management studies of human service programs. She was a principal with the consulting firm of Booz, Allen & Hamilton before she left in 1983 to start her own firm, Caliber Associates. In 2005, Caliber was acquired by ICF Consulting, where Ms. Bishop is now a senior vice president. Ms. Bishop has served as president of the college's Alumni Association and currently serves as chair of the Board of Visitors and Governors.

Ray Cave, Campaign for Our Fourth Century (1991 to 1996) Campaign Chair and current member of the St. John's College Board
A 1948 graduate of St. John's, Mr. Cave worked for 30 years as a journalist: 10 as a newspaper reporter (primarily with the Baltimore Evening Sun), 17 as a writer and editor for Sports Illustrated, and 13 as editor of Time and editorial director of Time Inc. He has also served as an adjunct professor at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. Currently, Mr. Cave operates an editorial consulting business. He has served for many years as a member of the college's Board of Visitors and Governors, twice served as chairman of the Board, and from 1991 to 1996 was chairman of the college's successful Campaign for Our Fourth Century.

Facts about the "With a Clear and Single Purpose" Capital Campaign

  • St. John's is pleased to announce the successful completion of its $125 million capital campaign closing June 30, 2008. The campaign has surpassed its original goal of $125 million and has raised in excess of $134 million.
  • The campaign surpassed by 125% its goal for need-based financial aid (an estimated $41.3 million against a goal of $33 million).
  • $5 million will fund the new Betty and Norman Levan Hall, a new academic building that will house classrooms, faculty offices, common spaces and the administrative offices of the Graduate Institute.
  • $10 million will fund a new 60-bed residence hall, which will allow St. John's to house 80% of its student body.
  • St. John's College alumni accounted for 60% of the gifts to the campaign.
  • The Campaign seeks to secure the future of St. John's through significant growth in the college endowment. While Annual Fund gifts support day-to-day operations of the college, gifts to the endowment provide funds every year - in perpetuity - for a specific need of the college. These gifts have already strengthened the college's ability to offer student financial aid, improve faculty salaries, offer more opportunities for faculty development, and support the campus libraries.

Facts about St. John's College

  • Known for its distinctive curriculum based on the great books, St. John's maintains one of the lowest faculty-to-student ratios (1:8) in higher education in the United States, the key to a liberal arts program that is discussion-based, hands-on, and comprehensive.
  • The Santa Fe campus opened in 1964 and has been a center of innovation within the college. The Graduate Institute opened on that campus in 1967 and the graduate program in Eastern Classics began in 1995. The college's increasingly popular Summer Classics program offers seminars that attract participants from across the country, and the Santa Fe community has many opportunities to take part in continuing education classes, free concerts and lectures, and other special programs that are part of the college's outreach program.