Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts, has announced gifts totaling $125 million from two alumni to support the school's ongoing efforts to provide the finest possible undergraduate education and greater access to it.

The unrestricted gifts, of $100 million and $25 million, are among seven commitments totaling $206 million to the historic college's $425 million capital campaign and will be paid over five years. With the gifts, the campaign, which was formally launched last October, has raised $350 million.

According to Amherst College president Anthony W. Marx, the funds could be used to enhance financial aid, broaden access for high-achieving students, hire more faculty and improve their resources and support, foster modern and interdisciplinary approaches to education, renovate existing facilities and build new ones, and strengthen alumni relationships in order to increase opportunities for student research, internships, and service.

"In a difficult economic moment, when institutions and individuals have fewer resources, these unrestricted gifts to the endowment represent extraordinary votes of support for Amherst College and the mission of educational quality and access at liberal arts colleges in general," said Marx. "[The donors] are grateful for the opportunities that an Amherst College education has provided them and remain inspired by the values the college holds dear. They hope that their gifts will inspire other alumni to come forward and help ensure that future generations will benefit from an Amherst College education as well."

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Amherst College has announced it has received two record setting cash gifts from two anonymous donors. WAMC's Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports. To listen to the story featuring Chief Advancement Officer Megan Morey, go to http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wamc/news.newsmain/article/2706/0/1574134/WAMC.News/$125.Million.Donated.To.Amherst.College.

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Amherst College received pledges from two alumni for gifts of $100 million and $25 million, the largest in the history of the liberal arts college.

The gifts from the alumni, who asked to remain anonymous, are “symbolic and real statements” of support for the college's priorities and mission, said Anthony Marx, president of the school in Amherst, Massachusetts. The donations come amid a $425 million fundraising campaign that began in October 2008. The school aims to enhance financial aid, hire more faculty and renovate existing facilities and build new ones with the money, Marx said.

Both gifts will be paid over five years and will provide unrestricted operating funds for the school at a time when Amherst's endowment value is down 23 percent from a year ago to $1.31 billion, after investment losses of 20 percent.

“Both of these individuals saw the need to make a clear statement at this moment,” Marx said in an interview. “People will need to step up to support quality higher education and access to it in the United States.”

The alumni are “individuals we've had lifelong relationships with and certainly very long-term discussions,” Marx said.

Including the two gifts, Amherst has raised $350 million so far in the campaign that was formally announced in October 2008.

Providing Inspiration

The donor of the $100 million gift said in a statement supplied by Amherst that the donation was intended to recognize the school's unique education.

“I hope other alumni will be inspired to further support the college, at a time when the economy is stressing the resources of all higher educational institutions,” according to the statement.

Amherst is ranked second in U.S. News and World Report's ranking of liberal arts colleges in the U.S.

Alumni of Amherst, founded in 1821, include the Nobel Memorial Prize-winning economists Joseph Stiglitz and Edmund Phelps; the novelist Scott Turow; Calvin Coolidge, the 30th U.S. president; and the Prince of Monaco, Albert II.

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Two graduates of Amherst College pledged separate gifts of $100 million and $25 million to the school's $425 million fund-raising campaign, The Republican reports.

The two gifts are the most given to the college, and school officials said they think the $100 million pledge just might be the largest cash gift ever to a liberal arts college, according to The Republican.

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In an apparently unprecedented move, anonymous donors have pledged to donate $125 million to Amherst College over the next five years, college officials announced Tuesday.

The no-strings gifts come from two people identified by the college only as Amherst College graduates. One gift is for $100 million, the largest cash gift the college has ever received. The other is for $25 million.

The $100 million donation may also be the largest cash gift a liberal arts college has ever received, according to data provided by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, which documents gifts to educational institutions.

"In a difficult economic moment, when institutions and individuals have fewer resources, these unrestricted gifts to the endowment represent extraordinary votes of support for Amherst College, and the mission of educational quality and access at liberal arts colleges in general," said Amherst College President Anthony W. Marx in a statement.

The gifts come at a time when Amherst College, like many colleges and universities around the nation, is seeking to rebuild its endowment following the stock market crash of 2008.

Amherst College closed fiscal 2009 with its endowment down by about 20 percent, or about $400 million, compared to the summer of 2008. Amherst College has the largest endowment in the Valley, and one of the largest in the nation. The college ended fiscal 2009 with its endowment valued at $1.3 billion.

The two donors stepped forward amid the college's $425 million comprehensive fundraising campaign, titled Lives of Consequence. The campaign was launched last October.

Although the campaign was formally launched in 2008, fundraising had been proceeding during the campaign's quiet phase for almost two years prior. The $100 million and the $25 million gifts are among seven commitments that account for $206 million of the $350 million that the campaign has raised to date.

"There are those who have said we could not have picked a worse time for a capital campaign, but look what has happened," said Jide Zeitlin, the chairman of Amherst College's board of trustees, in a statement. "These incredibly generous gifts are a stunning affirmation of the belief and support that these donors have for the mission and values of Amherst College, even during this challenging economic environment."

Marx said the gifts will be used to support the college's ongoing efforts to provide quality, accessible undergraduate education, and to maintain Amherst's standing as a selective and diverse liberal arts college. Amherst, founded in 1821, has an enrollment of about 1,600 students.

Both benefactors said they decided to remain anonymous so that the focus can be on the college rather than themselves, Marx said. However, the donors did provide statements to the college.

"I make this gift in recognition of the unique education I received at Amherst, and as an expression of support of Amherst College's mission," the $100 million donor said, according to the college. "I hope other alumni will be inspired to further support the college, at a time when the economy is stressing the resources of all higher educational institutions. Amherst is a jewel of enlightenment, social mobility based on talent and preparation for leadership that we must all maintain."

The donor of the $25 million gift said:

"This gift is to support Amherst College's commitment to providing the finest quality undergraduate education, and to provide access to students of extraordinary potential, regardless of their ability to pay, enabling them to lead the lives of consequence to which we all aspire."

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Two graduates of Amherst College pledged separate gifts of $100 million and $25 million to the school's $425 million fund-raising campaign.

The two gifts are the most given to the college, and the $100 million pledge is believed to be the largest cash gift ever to a liberal arts college, according to a prepared statement from school president Anthony W. Marx.

“In a difficult economic moment, when institutions and individuals have fewer resources, these unrestricted gifts to the endowment represent extraordinary votes of support for Amherst College, and the mission of educational quality and access at liberal arts colleges in general,” Marx said.

Both donors asked to remain anonymous, preferring that the focus of their gifts be on the college rather than on themselves, Marx said.

“They are grateful for the opportunities that an Amherst College education has provided them, and remain inspired by the values the college holds dear,” Marx said.

In a statement the donor of the $100 million gift said: “I make this gift in recognition of the unique education I received at Amherst, and as an expression of support of Amherst College's mission. I hope other alumni will be inspired to further support the college, at a time when the economy is stressing the resources of all higher educational institutions. Amherst is a jewel of enlightenment, social mobility based on talent and preparation for leadership that we must all maintain.”

The $25 million donor said “this gift is to support Amherst College's commitment to providing the finest quality undergraduate education, and to provide access to students of extraordinary potential, regardless of their ability to pay, enabling them to lead the lives of consequence to which we all aspire.”

Marx said he was humbled by the donors' faith that their gifts would be allocated where most needed including enhancing financial aid, broadening access for high-achieving students; hiring more faculty and improving their resources and support; fostering modern and interdisciplinary approaches to education; growing alumni relationships in order to enhance opportunities for student research, internships, and service; and upgrading the college's infrastructure by renovating existing facilities and building new ones.

With these donations, the campus has raised $350 million to date, according to college officials.

Founded in 1821, Amherst College has about 1,600 undergraduate students.

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Amherst College said Tuesday that it had received separate, unrestricted donations valued at $100 million and $25 million -- its largest gifts ever -- from alumni who wished to remain anonymous. Both donors said they wanted to help Amherst remain both highly selective and accessible to students from all socioeconomic backgrounds, said Anthony W. Marx, president of the Massachusetts liberal arts college. “I make this gift in recognition of the unique education I received at Amherst, and as an expression of support of Amherst College's mission," the $100 million donor said in a news release from the college. "I hope other alumni will be inspired to further support the college, at a time when the economy is stressing the resources of all higher educational institutions. Amherst is a jewel of enlightenment, social mobility based on talent, and preparation for leadership that we must all maintain.”

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* Editor's Note: The following Associated Press article was picked up by many outlets across the US, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Times, Minneapolis Star-Tribune and Newsday, among many others. *

AMHERST, Mass.—Amherst College received separate gifts of $100 million and $25 million, the two largest in its history, the liberal arts school announced.

The gifts were pledged by two alumni who chose to remain anonymous, with the $100 million donation believed to be the largest unrestricted cash gift ever made to a liberal arts college, the school said in a statement for release on Wednesday.

Both gifts will be paid over five years and will provide operating support, the school said.

"In a difficult economic moment, when institutions and individuals have fewer resources, these unrestricted gifts to the endowment represent extraordinary votes of support for Amherst College, and the mission of educational quality and access at liberal arts colleges in general," said Anthony W. Marx, the college's president.

The money will be allocated as needed, Marx said, including enhanced financial aid, hiring more faculty and building new facilities or renovating existing ones.

The college launched a $425 million fundraising campaign in October 2008.

The school's statement included comments attributed to both anonymous donors, including one from the $100 million donor who called Amherst, "a jewel of enlightenment, social mobility based on talent and preparation for leadership that we must all maintain."

Peter Rooney, a spokesman for Amherst, said the school is confident based on research it did that the $100 million gift was the largest ever given for unrestricted purposes to a liberal arts college.

The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, which tracks charitable gifts that are publicly reported, said it does not specifically break out gifts made to liberal arts colleges.

The $100 million gift would rank among the largest of any kind to a U.S. college or university in 2009, according to a list compiled by the center.

The University of Akron received a $218 million gift of software from Siemens AG for its College of Engineering earlier this year.

Founded in 1821, Amherst College in Amherst, Mass., has about 1,600 undergraduate students.

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Two alumni of Amherst College have pledged a total of $125-million to their alma mater, the largest gifts ever for the private liberal-arts college, Amherst officials announced on Tuesday. Both donors asked to remain anonymous.

The two pledges—one for $100-million and another for $25-million—are unrestricted, meaning Amherst can use the money however it wishes for operating costs. Anthony W. Marx, Amherst's president, said in a written statement that the money will go to the college's greatest needs, including enhancing financial aid and increasing access to the college, hiring more faculty members and increasing their support, and upgrading Amherst's infrastructure.

Both pledges will be paid over five years.

The $100-million donor said he made the gift "in recognition of the unique education I received at Amherst, and as an expression of support for Amherst College's mission," according to a statement released by the college. The $25-million donor said his gift was intended to provide access to the college for "students of extraordinary potential, regardless of their ability to pay."

On its Web site, Amherst College puts its cost of attendance between $53,000 and $55,000 a year for students who do not receive financial aid. The college has a generous financial-aid policy; in 2007 it announced it would replace loans with grants in students' financial-aid awards.

Amherst announced a $425-million fund-raising campaign last fall and says it has collected $350-million so far.

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Two anonymous donors have pledged large gifts to Amherst College, in Massachusetts. One of the anonymous donors pledged $100-million and the other pledged $25-million, the college announced this morning. Both donors are graduates of the college, but did not want the college to disclose their names.

Both pledges will go toward endowment and both will be paid out over five years.

The $100-milion pledge is especially unusual as the economy has reduced the number of gifts. Just three other gifts of that size have been made so far this year, compared with 14 by this time a year ago, according to The Chronicle's data base of big gifts.

What's more, no gifts of more than $100-million have been made so far this year; last year two donations were worth more than $1-billion.

Anthony W. Marx, president of Amherst, referred in a news release to the significance of such gifts in today's tough times.

“In a difficult economic moment, when institutions have fewer resources, these unrestricted gifts to the endowment represent extraordinary votes of support for Amherst College,” said Mr. Marx.

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