Connecticut College Receives $10 Million Gift to Enhance and Expand Academic Resource Center

NEW LONDON, Conn., Oct. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Connecticut College's Academic Resource Center (ARC) enters a new era with a gift of $10 million from anonymous donors. The gift will enable the ARC to achieve a new level of excellence as a national leader in academic development and skill-building for life.

The support combines an outright gift of $5 million with a $5 million challenge grant that, when matched, will result in a total investment of $15 million.

Connecticut College President Katherine Bergeron remarked on the immeasurable contribution of the ARC since its 2013 opening and on its future impact.

"Thanks to the wonderful generosity of these donors, Connecticut College will have the best endowed resource center in the country supporting the academic and professional development of our students," Bergeron said. "With this gift, the ARC will provide an even broader range of programming designed for students who want to excel in their lives on campus and in the wider world."

The funding will endow a new Program for Communication Excellence that incorporates the Roth Writing Center, a new Program in Critical and Collaborative Thinking, and an enhanced Program in Quantitative Reasoning. The total gift also provides new resources to support the assessment of student learning and to expand the center's physical presence in the Charles E. Shain Library for staff, quiet study, collaboration and tutoring.

Noel Garrett, dean of academic support and director of the ARC, said the programs reflect the changing needs of students in the global economy.

"We are acutely aware of how essential quantitative skills are for success in today's workforce, especially as interest in STEM has grown," Garrett said. "This gift will allow us to significantly expand our popular quantitative literacy program, integrating these skills across the curriculum so that all students benefit."

Since its opening following an $11 million gift from anonymous donors, the ARC has provided tutoring, workshops and learning resources. Every Conn student has worked with the center in some capacity, with three out of four students using it on a regular basis.

"The ARC has transformed the culture of teaching and learning at Connecticut College," said Dean of the College Jefferson Singer. "It is a national model for integrative student success that fosters a rare environment of collaboration, independent thinking, self-confidence and creativity. As students become more effective learners, they acquire the higher-order skills necessary for meaningful intellectual inquiry and transformative impact on the world."

About Connecticut College
Founded in 1911, Connecticut College is a highly selective private liberal college located on a 750-acre arboretum campus overlooking Long Island Sound and the Thames River. Our innovative educational approach, Connections, integrates everything our 1,800 students experience here—classes, majors, study abroad, internships, residence hall and campus life—so they learn how to look at problems from multiple angles and find value in differing points of view. Our mission is to educate students to put the liberal arts into action as citizens in a global society. For more information, see www.conncoll.edu or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

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