Sands Family Foundation gift to raise $10M for creativity, 创新, entrepreneurship

火博体育大学 announces a $10 million initiative in support of its longstanding commitment to a liberal arts experience rooted in creativity that prepares students 为了事业和个人的成功. 500万美元的一对一配对承诺 along with additional matching gifts creates the Sands Family Foundation Initiative for Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship at 火博体育大学.

A 世纪 ago, Lucy Skidmore Scribner founded 火博体育大学 with the vision that it would help students connect the power of their minds and their hands in a new model 博雅教育. 今天，这一雄心迈出了戏剧性的一步 学院院长马克. 康纳.

“This extraordinary gift celebrates what Skidmore has always done — nurture creativity and prepare students for life after graduation — and moves us forward in our ability to offer the very model for a 21st-世纪 liberal arts education,” 康纳 说. “ essence of 创新 和创业 is an eagerness to be bold, take risks, look at tough problems with fresh eyes, and be unafraid to fail — the hallmarks of 伟大的文科教育. 这份来自金沙家族基金会的礼物强调 the incredible impact that our commitment to developing exceptional creative and critical 技能可以对学生产生影响.”

罗伯·桑兹81届, a Skidmore philosophy major who is executive chairman of the board of directors of Constellation Brands, explained his personal commitment to this gift.

 “At Skidmore I gained the fundamental knowledge to become a successful attorney and 商人和一套宝贵的生活技能，”他说. 《火博体育官网》 Foundation Initiative promises to support and grow these aspects of the education I experienced at Skidmore — exactly the kind of education I believe our world needs. We are so excited to spearhead the expansion of entrepreneurial thinking for all Skidmore students, and my hope is that, through this support, students will use their talents upon graduation to create or grow new ventures from the Capital District to Rochester 及以后.” 

Sands Family Foundation member 比尔·卡利奥，99年, a Skidmore business major who went on to attain his master’s degree in theater and is now a member of the College’s Board of Trustees, stressed the promise of the gift to build on Skidmore’s creative, inclusive, 以及跨学科教育.

“I’m so proud to be able to support my alma mater with this gift,” he 说. “我想要 the world to see that a Skidmore education is truly the best preparation for the 21st 世纪. Our gift is going to provide programmatic support for the kind of entrepreneurial 认为这是大学的自然和基本组成部分. 这实际上会 让学生学会如何塑造自己的未来.”

At Skidmore, entrepreneurship is an ethos and commitment to helping students think 用全球市场所需要的创造力来制造. 学院提供 superb existing programs, such as the Entrepreneurial Artist Initiative, the Skidmore-Saratoga 咨询合伙公司和肯尼斯·A. Freirich ' 90创业大赛. It offers robust collaborative spaces for innovative practice, such as the nascent Schupf Family IdeaLab, the newly created Center for Integrated Sciences, and the Frances 唐青年教学博物馆及美术馆. 

肯Freirich, in particular, has been a trailblazer in conversations about entrepreneurship at 火博体育，还有 Freirich竞争 has long inspired entrepreneurial involvement by Skidmore students.  

“肯Freirich has been a major figure in the College’s support for student entrepreneurs for years now,” remarked 学院院长 and Vice President for Academic Affairs 迈克尔•奥尔. “Ken’s far-reaching philanthropic vision to foster entrepreneurship, 创新 and creativity among our students transcends traditional business plan 与完整的文科课程竞争和互动.”

Colin Fischer ’22, a psychology major,  and Tom Duncan ’22, a double major in psychology 和哲学，赢得了第一名2万美元的奖金 今年的Freirich比赛 他们的高蛋白冰淇淋生意.  

President 康纳 说 the new initiative would increase support for the competition as it further prepares students for success in their lives and careers while fostering 创造性思维贯穿了火博体育的课程. 

《火博体育官网》 Foundation Initiative for Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship will channel support to these programs and to similar initiatives in the coming years, further establishing Skidmore as a model liberal arts college for the skills, experiences, and abilities that will help our students thrive in the 21st 世纪,” President 康纳 说.