A series on President Pelton’s five commitments

EDITOR’S NOTE: President Pelton, in his September 14 inaugural address, outlined five specific measures that he believes will move Emerson from “excellent to extraordinary— establishing the College as the world’s leading institution of higher education in the arts and communication. The measures are: to raise the bar of academic excellence; to innovate; to extend the College’s reach globally; to engage and assist nearby communities; and to ensure sound financial stewardship. This is the last of the five-part series. In addition to an excerpt from President Pelton’s inaugural address, Vice President for Administration and Finance Maureen Murphy and Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Jeffrey Schoenherr elaborated on how the college can ensure a sound financial stewardship.

“Finally, our fifth commitment to our future is to create a strong financial environment that enables us to sustain and advance Emerson’s mission. Our vision, From Excellent to Extraordinary, will serve as the template for a comprehensive fundraising campaign, which we will begin to plan this year. The campaign will focus on increasing our endowment by 50 percent over the next decade through gifts for student scholarships, endowed chairs and professorships, and other programs essential to our growth and development. In the meantime, we have pressing technology and infrastructure needs that we must address.”
–President Lee Pelton

Commenting on President Pelton’s remarks, Vice President Schoenherr said: “Creating a strong financial environment is the perfect last step in enabling Emerson to fulfill the first four commitments. Moving the College from excellent to extraordinary will require significant new resources, so the vision relies on this last commitment,” said Schoenherr.

“To support President Pelton’s new vision, we need to explore other revenue sources besides tuition dollars,” said Maureen Murphy. “Jeff and his development team have already started laying the groundwork for a new strategic fundraising campaign, which he and I will work together on. As we develop priorities for the campaign we will continue to focus on the essential priorities of the college, which were laid out in the president’s inaugural address,” said Murphy. 

“Emerson is entering into a new and exciting chapter that will require us to raise the bar for philanthropic support,”  said Schoenherr. “In the past, we did not focus as much on fundraising; however, now is the time to increase our action—especially with the president’s ambitious measures. We are looking forward to engaging with our strong network of alumni, parents, and friends,” he said.