magazine - Somerville College - University of Oxford

34 | Somerville Magzine
The Somerville Campaign:
Your chance to make a difference
In the summer of 2009, Somerville College launched an ambitious £25 million
fundraising campaign to secure the future of a pioneering institution. The response
from alumni and friends has been overwhelming…but there is still a long way to go.
Artists impression of a
corridor in one of the new
Student Accommodation
Blocks, with Donor Plaque
outside each bedroom door by
Niall McLaughlin Architects
JULIE HAGE
Head of Development
Julie Hage became
Somerville’s Head of
Development in September
2009. She studied the
history of ideas at
universities in Denmark
and France, and has an
MA from the Ecole des
Hautes Etudes en Sciences
Sociales in Paris. She has
previously worked in
policy development and
fundraising at UNESCO’s
World Heritage Centre in
Paris, the Danish Ministry
for Culture and the
National Museum of
Denmark. Most recently
she worked for the
University of Aberdeen’s
£150 million campaign.
If you would like to hear
more about the Campaign,
please contact Julie on
julie.hage@some.ox.ac.uk
or 01865 280596.
gifts of all sizes
from Somervillians
of all ages have
a great impact
Somerville may have some exceptional alumni – like
Margaret Thatcher, Indira Ghandi and Dorothy
Hodgkin. Yet what really makes this place special is
less the exception than the rule: the ‘ordinary’ Somervillians
who have given the College such extraordinary support over
the years. It was this long tradition of support from alumni
and friends that gave Somerville the confi dence to launch a
major new campaign last year.
The simple fact is that Oxford’s unique tutorial system and
collegiate structure are expensive to maintain. No college
can rely on state funding, combined with fees, to balance its
books every year – let alone for capital projects. And, while
other Oxford colleges have vast endowment funds swelled
by several hundred years of investment, Somerville relies
on the generosity of its former students, supplemented by
income from a modest endowment.
The Somerville Campaign has three vital priorities. First, there
is student support. We are proud that the College has one of
Oxford’s highest percentages of students receiving bursaries
(26% in 2008–09). However, if we are to continue to compete
for talent in these times of increasing student hardship,
funding must increase. Second there are academic and
teaching posts. The shortfall in Fellowship funding currently
stands at over £500,000 a year, the equivalent of income from
a £15 million endowment. Support for fellowships is therefore
vital to the College’s future. Third – and most pressing – are
our plans for new student accommodation on the Radcliffe
Observatory Quarter (ROQ) site, which will become the hub of
Campaign figures
Overall Target
Total reached to date
Target for new buildings
£25 million
£13 million
£2 million by
September 2011
Total raised for new buildings £550,000
Total number of donors
to the Campaign
1500
the University of Oxford, with new central offices and buildings
for Humanities and Mathematics. We are fortunate that it is
right next door to Somerville.
With our two new buildings (see page 32), Somerville will be
able to house all of its undergraduates throughout their studies.
On an individual level, the new facilities will ease financial
burdens and enable resident students to feel part of a thriving
academic community. On a College level, the accommodation
will help us to attract students and raise academic standards
yet further – while the 68 new en-suite rooms will bring in vital
income from conferences during vacations.
The total project cost of £11 million will be partially met
through loans and by selling property, but at least £2 million
needs to be raised from philanthropy by the end of the next
academic year. Alumni and friends have already responded
with generous contributions, and more than £550,000 has
been raised for the new buildings. We hope our innovative
designs for donor recognition will inspire many other
individuals and groups to give generously, following the
example of the class of 1959 (see page 6).
Currently, around 13% of Somervillians give to their former
College. This is very respectable in UK terms. However,
in certain US institutions more than 60% of alumni give
regular support. So Somerville still has great potential to
improve. As the recent telephone appeal showed (see page
4), gifts of all sizes from Somervillians of all ages have a
great impact. Two graduates of 1989 and 1990 have also
shown great initiative in producing a recent Campaign
mailing to enlist support for the new buildings.
So far, our total is over half way to the overall target. The
£13 million raised to date is the result of more than 1,500
donations from alumni and friends. It tells a very important
story about a dedicated community of donors and a highly
developed culture of giving. Yet there is a long way to go.
Every week, the newspaper headlines about falling university
funding make our endeavour seem all the more urgent.
Ultimately, to secure Somerville’s future, it will be necessary
to reach out to alumni of all ages to engage them in support
of College priorities. The fi nal goal is thus not just to exceed
the target of £25 million, but to build a culture of giving
which will secure the College’s future for decades to come.