Table of Contents
Momentum from the Beginning
The University in 1950
With the need to replace the outmoded Herring-Cole glaringly obvious, as anyone who was trying to study there while melting ice dripped through the ceiling could attest, the library drive got under way in 1955-56. Identified as the “centennial drive” for a new library, it saw some 1,235 Laurentian volunteers – that too an indication of the trend in modern fund-raising – collect $1 million, the first seven-figure effort in the University's history. This successful campaign provided funding for the construction of Owen D. Young Library, which opened in 1959. Expanded and renamed the Second Century Development Program (because it began in 1956, which marked the beginning of the University's second 100 years), it later generated funds for such steps as the second renovation of Richardson Hall and for building projects that continued into the 1970s, with several residence halls, science buildings and, finally, Augsbury Physical Education Center/Leithead Field House resulting.
The Second Century Development Program became the first campaign to have a public theme, when “In Pursuit of Excellence” was announced in 1962. Gifts and pledges ultimately exceeded $10 million — the first eight-figure achievement in University history. A handsome booklet, likely the first formal “case statement” in University history, headlined the needs in language that would become familiar in future campaigns: The Shortage of Facilities, The Shortage of Teachers, The Shortage of Money. One prescient argument that the booklet made in laying out the case for new physical education facilities was the anticipated need to provide better, more equitable facilities for women.
Also in 1962, the E.J. Noble University Center opened, largely on the strength of a gift of over $1 million from the Edward John Noble Foundation. This was St. Lawrence's first million-dollar gift.
The post-war era also saw the first scholarship-specific fund drive. This was in actuality the Alumni Fund for 1952-53, with a single dedicated purpose. Against a goal of $35,000, $38,000 was raised. By 1956, this scholarship fund stood at $84,500 as financial aid was poised to become an ever-more major player in higher education budgeting, and consequently in fund-raising.
Nor did the students cease to be involved in fund-raising. Perhaps they didn't save the college from bankruptcy, as they helped to do in 1886, but they did from time to time contribute hours, effort and dollars. “Involvement '69” was conceived by students and had as its goals to raise $10,000 among themselves and to attract a matching sum from alumni, parents and the University community, for application to faculty enrichment. The match was made and faculty immediately began attending symposia and teaching workshops, courtesy of the efforts of their students.