Though much uncertainty remains in today’s economy, Pomona’s
endowment has suffered only moderate losses in the last year.
As of June 30, 2002, the endowment had lost $100 million,
just under ten percent of its former $1.1 billion.
The College remains largely unconcerned by the losses, as
the Board of Trustees has, in recent years, attempted to diversify
Pomona’s portfolio of investments.
“Pomona College’s endowment performance was better
than that of many other colleges and universities across the
country during the last year. There is concern that a prolonged
bear market and weak economy could ultimately cause problems
for the College’s finances, but I would not say that
we are concerned at this point about a ‘dramatic’
effect. If current conditions persist, however, it will be
necessary to be very, very careful about expenditures,”
Vice President and Treasurer of the College Carlene Miller
said.
Additionally, donations and gifts to the college have been
resilient in the midst of the recession. Many of the gifts
that the College receives come in the form of bequests, which
are given to the college upon a person’s death. These
have little to do with the current state of the economy.
For the 2001-2002 fiscal year that ended in June, the college
raised $12 million, and at the end of the first yearly quarter
in September, $5 million had already been pledged to the College.
Bequests were similar to the larger donations in that $2 million
was collected from last year and $160,000 was accumulated
for this first quarter.
Pomona concluded the Campaign for Pomona College this year,
an ambitious fund-raising campaign begun in 1997 to strengthen
the school’s endowment. It surpassed its initial goal
of $150 million with a total of $206 million collected.
“The challenge in development is to maintain momentum
and energy. The campaign finished, and donors and staff have
a tendency to relax. We need to work diligently with this
set of fund-raising priorities, although the campaign was
remarkably successful in meeting its purposes,” Vice
President for Development Ted Gibbins said.
