Why Campaign Andover?

Phillips Academy's chief financial officer, in his annual Andover Bulletin report
on school finances, argues the case for PA's $200 million fund-raising drive.

by Neil H. Cullen

The rationale for a major campaign can easily elude the casual observer. After all, as of June 30, 1999, Phillips Academy's endowment had a value of approximately $435 million to support annual operating expenses. It is a remarkable figure-larger than endowments at many peer institutions and liberal arts colleges. Furthermore, the school's physical facilities have an estimated replacement value of almost $360 million. Add to these sums the value of the collections at our two museums, the Addison Gallery of American Art and the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology, and some alumni and parents may well wonder why Andover needs still more. Surely, the school must be able to manage within current resources and still offer the excellent education for which it has such a well-deserved reputation. Why, then, has Andover embarked on a $200 million campaign?

Clearly, we are blessed with abundant resources. Ironically, however, Andover cannot sustain its educational program without husbanding these resources more effectively and broadening its financial base for future development. The campaign is essential. Andover has 500 acres of land, over 150 architecturally significant

buildings that comprise our historical legacy and house our students, faculty and programs, and landscaped spaces and athletic fields that lend unusual beauty to the campus. It has 1,077 students, 240 faculty members, 330 support staff members and, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2000, a $57 million operating budget. (Please refer to the chart above to see a summary of revenue and expenses.) In FY 2000 Andover will also spend approximately $6 million of campaign gifts to improve its facilities. Specifically, we have completed a new faculty apartment and common room in Adams Hall. We are constructing a new $3.3 million admission center at Hardy House. We are designing a new science center to replace Evans Hall and planning a new hockey rink and athletic stadium. In FY 2000, therefore, Andover will spend a total of $63 million to support the critical programs of the academy.

Despite the perception that Andover has unlimited financial resources, the school feels continual pressures to fund vital priorities and commitments at leadership levels. These priorities include the financial aid scholarships necessary to attract the best and the brightest students, the funds necessary to assure that Andover will lead its peers in faculty compensation, and the renewal spending needed to maintain and improve the school's facilities and