The students of the 2011 interim course in Egypt

When we talk about Academic Excellence at Lafayette we’re not just alluding to that fact that we have a 10:1 student-faculty ratio, an outstanding 87% four-year graduation rate, and an average class size of just 17 students. Because while our academic statistics are strong, as any Lafayette current student or alumnus can tell you, those numbers only tell a tiny part of a bigger, and frankly more interesting, story.

The Academic Excellence we as Lafayette students, staff, faculty, and alumni refer to are the experiences Lafayette provides and the opportunities students seek out to conduct independent or EXCEL research, work across disciplines, learn on interim abroad courses, and even simply take courses with amazing professors which can change our views, our beliefs, and our career paths.

As I was planning this blog post I kept trying to pinpoint the best, the most outstanding, the most excellent academic experience I could share. There was the Intro to American Studies course I took with Prof. Liz Rosen that forced me to stop just observing during class discussions and encouraged me to participate in debates about the role of women in American society or the influence of 9/11 on our generation. Then there was the VaST I took three years ago with Prof. Chris Phillips about the technological evolution of reading and writing that sparked my interest in digital media and is perhaps even responsible for this blog. And, of course, my senior thesis on the representation of the Holocaust in fiction was undoubtedly the most challenging project I took on during my four years on campus but it was also extremely rewarding because it forced me to spend the academic year thinking and re-thinking the two novels I wrote about and defending my conclusions to my advisor, Prof. Steve Belletto.

What I’m trying to say is that Academic Excellence isn’t just about having smart students or a low student-faculty ratio. It’s about a community that encourages academic exploration and an institution that supports students, faculty, and even alumni in pursuing their intellectual curiousity. It’s a culture of questioning, debating, and never settling and it’s one of the things I happen to love about Lafayette.

- Amanda Whitbred ’11

P.S. Help support Academic Excellence at Lafayette! There are only 15 days until the end of the fiscal year! Make your gift now to your academic department, the EXCEL program, or the area of campus that means the most to you by clicking here.

Of course, this particular friendship is important to me because Cathy Hilton is my mother and Linda Arra is my godmother. These two women helped create my Lafayette family – the women and their children (including me – the redheaded baby) pictured here at their 15th reunion. My Lafayette is one intimately connected with all of these women – Nancy, Marilyn, Chris, Anne, Lindsay, Becky; and Linda & Cathy. My Lafayette is, in essence, the result of good luck and great roommates.

This week, in honor of Our Common Thread, the lifelong friendships that Lafayette has given us, and great roommates, the Annual Fund is sponsoring a competition for the “Best Roommate Story.” The winner will receive four tickets to the 2012 Lafayette-Lehigh game (two for you and two for your roommate). All you have to do to enter is head over to the Lafayette College Facebook page and write your story in a comment on the “Best Roommate Story” post. Tag your roommate (first names only, please) in the comment and tell all your friends to vote by clicking “like.” The post with the most likes by the end of this weekend will win!

Happy Reminiscing!

Amanda Whitbred ’11
Assistant Director of the Annual Fund

P.S. If you haven’t made your gift to the Annual Fund yet this year, do so now by clicking here!

It’s taken us eleven months to get to this point, but here is our working hypothesis. We are held together by the:

• Lifelong Friendships
• Academic Excellence
• Life-changing Experiences
• Shared Traditions

that Lafayette gave us as students and continues to provide us as alumni. It’s the randomly-assigned roommate who became our best friend, the elective course we took on a whim that changed our major and our career aspirations, and the sense of comraderie that we felt at our first Lafayette-Lehigh football game that keep us connected to each other and to the College today.

This month, as we look ahead to the end of the fiscal year on June 30th and aim to reach our 40% alumni giving participation goal, we will be inviting alumni and friends to share their own reflections about our Common Thread. Make sure you “like” the Lafayette College Alumni Facebook page and follow “@LafayetteAlumni” on Twitter to join the conversation and share your own stories of “Our Common Thread.” And, if you haven’t already, make your gift to the Lafayette Annual Fund today!

If you haven’t made your gift to Lafayette yet, you have until June 30th to contribute for the 2012 fiscal year. A gift of any size, to the area of campus that means the most to you, will directly impact the lives of current and future Lafayette students.

You can still make an impact on “One More Leopard.” Make your gift today.

The response we’ve received from these accepted students has been amazing. The students have tons of questions and tons of enthusiasm for Lafayette. And the parents are perhaps equally excited – one mother went so far as to give the phone to her son while he was in the shower (I’m sure he’s looking forward to going away to college).

On campus, the sidewalks have been overrun with tours and classrooms are peppered with the eager faces of accepted students trying to get a sense of what life would be like at Lafayette College.

Which is why, as we enter the last week of the One More Leopard Challenge, every young alumni gift matters. These students have big plans for the next four years and your gift of even $5 or $10 can help make their dreams reality. 

Help us make Lafayette possible for One More Leopard – make your gift now!

“I am incredibly appreciative of your continual support that makes the Lafayette experience possible for many students. I myself would not be here without the support of incredible people like yourself.” – MW ’13

“I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and on behalf of the student body I thank you, for the amazing world of possibility you have assisted in giving us. I know Lafayette has given me things I would not have had the opportunity for in Missouri. Thank you.” – KC ’15

“Alumni like you make it possible for students like me to attend such a prestigious college and partake in many opportunities I would not have otherwise.” GT ’12

“Without alumni like you I would not have had the amazing opportunities to explore my own mind and the world around me.“ -TL ’13

Just in case we don’t say it enough – thank you to all our generous donors! Every gift matters, so make your gift today!

It’s these students and these opportunities that distinguish Lafayette. This is what we as young alumni always try to get across in interviews and conversations with those unlucky individuals who’ve never heard of Lafayette College: this place is awesome.

About 20% of the Class of 2016 will be offered Marquis Scholarships and these scholarships could be not only the difference between being able to afford Lafayette or not, but also the difference between amazing students like Caitlin, Chris, Monica, and Daniel choosing Lafayette as their home for the next four years or not. We need to offer prospective students the best financial aid packages possible in order to continue to attract the best and brightest. And because attracting awesome students is how we’re going to ensure that Lafayette continues to be the awesome place we know it is.

Make your gift now and be counted to help us make Lafayette possible for One More (Awesome) Leopard!

Students enjoy the Quad on 3/23/12

Today is a beautiful day here on College Hill and the Quad is packed with students throwing frisbees and testing their slacklining skills. It is a scene guaranteed to make you nostalgic for college.

Lafayette students, we all know, work hard. They balance academics, volunteering, athletics, research, artistic pursuits, and on-campus jobs. And yet they still have the opportunity, from time to time, to spend an afternoon laying out on the Quad and basking in the early arrival of beautiful weather.

Bob Beane’s hope is that we, Lafayette young alumni, can make this wonderful experience available to one more student in the Class of 2016 – a student waiting to hear not only whether she’s been accepted to Lafayette, but also whether she’ll be receiving the financial aid necessary to make Lafayette possible. You may think your gift of $5 isn’t enough to make an impact. But if 1,000 young alumni give just $5, those $5 gifts will turn into a $56,988 one.

That’s enough money to make Lafayette possible for at least one more Leopard.

As a regular donor in support of financial aid at Lafayette, I’ve had the opportunity to meet a number of Lafayette’s financial aid recipients over the years and each time I am impressed by the intelligence and drive our students possess. It would be a shame if the Lafayette community had missed out on any of these incredible students.

The financial aid that half of all Lafayette students receive is funded primarily by alumni gifts and that alumni support is a proud tradition. For example, more than 55% of my classmates have made a gift to the College in each of the last 12 years. I take great pride in that statistic; you can see below how your class stacks up so far this year. Because I want Lafayette to continue to enroll the best students and be recognized as a top college in the US, I’m challenging you to keep that tradition of alumni support alive at.

If 551 more young alumni make a gift to the College by April 12, I will donate the full cost of attending Lafayette for the next academic year ($56,988) in support of financial aid. Your gift of any size and to any program on campus could get Lafayette closer to being able to fund One More Leopard’s education.

Make your gift today! 

With Leopard Pride,

Bob Beane ’58

Your gift of even just $5 provides every Lafayette student with financial assistance and, if you make your gift now, Bob Beane’s gift of a whole year’s tuition will stretch your $5 to $56,988.

Click here to make your gift now!