Pomona College unveiled its new fundraising campaign, Daring Minds, last Thursday with an address in Bridges Hall of Music before its annual Founder’s Day celebration at the Smith Campus Center’s South Lawn. Alumni were also given a tour of the new North Campus residence halls for the first time Saturday.

The Daring Minds campaign aims to raise $250 million over five years.

The public phase was introduced Thursday afternoon to a crowd of professors, alumni, and students at Bridges Halls of Music. The program’s videos were separated by speeches from alumni, faculty, a student, and President David Oxtoby. The specific goals of the campaign include $65 million for student scholarships, $11.5 million to bring in lecturing artists and strengthen the Museum of Art and art teaching at Pomona, a new studio art building, 10 endowed faculty fellowships, and an expansion for the Draper Center.

Founder’s Day, celebrating the college’s 123rd birthday, featured live music from student band Komuso Septet, two large inflatable games, and a variety of food provided many students with an enjoyable evening.

“It’s really laid back and nice,” John Maidman PO ‘11 said. “Fantastic food.”

In the middle of the festivities was a long table offering t-shirts of two colors with a word cloud printed on the front. The most prominent of the words was “daring,” which was surrounded by others such as “curious,” “inspiring,” and “dedicated.” The shirts were free for all students who attended the event.

Daring Minds also aims to raise $18 million for the new North Campus residence halls. Alumni received guided tours of the two buildings Saturday. Pomona hopes to open up more room for students because overcrowding has become a serious problem on campus, and to “reinforce the connection between living and learning.” The two new buildings are L-shaped and reflect each other across a landscaped walkway, and their long and short ends are connected by a glass walkway. In total, they contain 150 double beds in suite-style rooms that house three to six students.

They are being built to meet gold LEED standards, with numerous sustainable features: solar panels and gardens on the roofs, occupant-controlled heating and air (both of which will shut off when a room window is opened), temperature-trapping concrete walls, reflective paints, occupancy sensors, lots of natural lighting, and a system to collect storm-water in a tunnel under Sixth Street that leads to a natural aquifer under the halls rather than a sewer treatment system.

The other features of the building are meant to create a “community.” There are large public meeting rooms on each floor and grand lounges on both buildings’ main floors, with projector systems and full kitchens. There are staff and faculty apartments in each building, and there is a new Outdoor Education Center attached to the as-of-yet-unnamed hall.

“The new Outdoor Education Center will also be very exciting, and I think it will bring Pomona to an entire new level of outdoor education, student trip opportunities, and student leadership learning,” said Dean of Students Miriam Feldblum.

The North Campus Residence Halls will also have the heaviest security on campus, requiring three swipes of the keycard to access the upper floors.

According to Feldblum, the new halls “ greatly enhance residential life on campus, the living, learning community, and provide students with suite-style living options.”

She was especially excited about the kitchens because she feels that too many students leave the college without ever having cooked for themselves.

The construction on the buildings will finish in March, and they will be open for students over the summer.