Concord, Massachusetts was home to the final Ball Hall rally on March 18. Many of our alumni were unable to attend the various rallies across the country, and we’ve also fielded a few questions here & there from people wondering what was being presented at said rallies.
That being said, we’ve created a virtual rally for those of you who were unable to attend or for those of you who simply want to relive the experience.
So, without further ado, I present to you our virtual rally welcome video.
Text Transcript
DR. BURKE: Hi, I’m Joe Burke and I’m the president of Keuka College and I’d like to thank you for attending this virtual Ball Hall campaign rally. Now, we’ve been attending and participating in these rallies all over the country for the last six months, but we’re using this virtual rally for those of you that haven’t been able to attend in person.
We know how much Ball Hall has meant to every one of you. There are an awful lot of memories in the walls of Ball Hall. We know you’ve lived there, we know you’ve participated in a lot of campus activities, and the building brings memories to all of us ever since the day George Harvey Ball welcomed that first class in 1890.
And when we looked at replacing Ball Hall, we listened to you as a group of alumni that asked that we renovate Ball rather than replace Ball Hall, and we took your words to heart, and we now are about 2/3 completed in the renovation of that building. We started in the spring of 2006, worked very diligently last summer, throughout this year, and we will have the building completed by the fall of 2007.
Our campaign for financing the building really consists of three phases. In Phase I, we went to the Ball Foundation and asked for their help in financing the building. And we were very fortunate that the George & Frances Ball Foundation gave us a $4 million gift to kick off our campaign. That was one of the major gifts of the first phase of our campaign. That phase was also concluded with a gift from the state of New York, which was actually a matching grant, of $750,000. And, the phase one was rounded off by gifts from all of our trustees as well members of the Executive Committee of the Alumni Association. That phase was finished about a year ago.
We then moved into Phase II of our campaign, which was concluded last fall. During Phase II, we approached 16 major foundations around the country, as well as selected donors. I’m very proud to report that 14 of those 16 donors approved our requests and gave major donations to the College.
The final grant we received in this Phase II was from the nationally famous Kresge Foundation, which is a foundation which is sought after by colleges and universities around the country. The $600,000 grant they gave Keuka College was for participation, and not as a challenge grant. Therefore, it’s based on how many people actually participate in our campaign, not on the dollar-for-dollar challenge.
With this great news, I’d like to introduce to you Carolanne Marquis, our executive vice president, who will explain to you how you as alumni can help us achieve the Kresge grant.
CAROLANNE MARQUIS: Thank you, Joe. We’ve begun Phase III, or as I like to call it, the alumni phase. And, we need your support to reach the $10 million goal by January 2008 and receive the Kresge Challenge grant. The Kresge Foundation has issued a challenge and now it’s time for our alumni to meet it. We’ve already seen many alumni step forward to encourage participation among their classes. Alumni from 69 classes, representing every decade starting with the 1920s, have made their contributions so far.
One of the features of the renovated Ball Hall will be a spectacular new lobby, which includes a beautiful wall of donors. Any individual who donates $1,500 or more will have his or her name engraved in perpetuity on the wall of donors. The same goes for classes who cumulatively contribute more than $1,500, and there are naming opportunities for other gift levels.
While it is critical that we reach The Campaign to Save Ball Hall goal, it is also imperative that we continue to support the Keuka Fund, which helps fund the scholarships for our students.
I have been heartened by the support alumni, family, foundations and friends have shown so far, and not just financially. Many took active roles in campaign rallies around the country, and many class leaders are currently organizing their class participation. That only reinforces my belief that the entire Keuka community will finish the job they asked the College to start.
Joe and I invite you to watch the Ball Hall memories video, available on the campaign Web site. We also invite you to share your Ball Hall memories on the memories Web page.
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