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Group of Alumnae Donates $379M to Dartmouth

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October 13, 2021

In one of the largest women-led fundraising efforts ever conducted at an institution of higher learning, 103 female graduates of Dartmouth College have each donated a minimum of $1 million, raising a total of $379 million, the college announced yesterday. The donors committed another $61 million to the college in bequest expectancies.

The funds will be used to support a diverse array of initiatives, including endowed scholarships, professorships, coaching positions, academic programs and capital projects.

Marking the culmination of the seven-year Call to Lead campaign -- conceived and led entirely by alumnae volunteers -- the achievement coincides with the 50th anniversary of coeducation at Dartmouth and highlights the growing clout of female donors.

“Fifty years ago, after the decision was made to admit women, many men expressed concern that women didn’t understand philanthropy and had neither the inclination nor the means to give back,” says Peggy Epstein Tanner, a 1979 graduate and co-chair of the campaign. “But no one should ever doubt the tenacity and power of Dartmouth women. Look how far we’ve come.”

Susan H. Greenberg

Susan H. Greenberg is a senior editor at Inside Higher Ed. A career journalist and educator, she joined the publication in August 2021 after eight years in Vermont, where she freelanced and taught writing at Middlebury College and Champlain College. Prior to that, she spent 22 years writing and editing for Newsweek magazine, where she covered everything from international affairs to arts and culture. Her work has also appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, and River Teeth, among others. She has taught English and journalism at Phillips Academy, where she served as an advisor to the student newspaper. She holds a B.A. in English from Brown University and an M.S. in journalism from Columbia. The mother of three nearly adult children, she is very much enjoying her newly empty nest.