So what should TC do after concluding the most successful campaign ever conducted by a graduate school of education?

Build on that momentum, of course – but with a twist.

Our mantra in past years was, in essence, “Let’s assemble all the resources we can” – and thanks to your generosity, passion and creativity, we did just that. As you’ll see in our final report on the Campaign, we significantly increased support for TC’s talented students, enhanced faculty research and programs in every area, upgraded and rewired our historic campus, and financially positioned the College for the future. We also reconnected and reenergized our community of 90,000 alumni around the world.

Now, led by our new President, Tom Bailey, we’re taking stock of this abundance of new riches, identifying the strengths we can build upon, and targeting the gaps that remain. In short, we’re redoubling our commitment to creating a more equitable world in which education, in all fields, enables all individuals, families and communities to flourish.  To that end, we’re also laying the groundwork for a better aligned, better coordinated and more collaborative Teachers College that is even more effective in creating comprehensive solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.

As President Bailey said in his Inauguration speech in December, TC’s contributions have never been more urgently needed. But as he also made clear, to increase our impact, we must create clearer pathways to success for our own faculty, students and the institution itself.

We’re redoubling our commitment to creating a more equitable world in which education, in all fields, enables all individuals, families and communities to flourish.

 - Suzanne M. Murphy

To that end, there are two important ways you can help us.

Funding student scholarship continues to be the most important way we can ensure that our talented students get the most out of their time at TC – and in their careers as well. We want our students to focus their energy on their studies and their research, and we want them to graduate free from debt so that they can pursue careers aimed at building a better world. As always, you can help them do that by creating a scholarship in your own name or someone else’s’ contributing to an existing scholarship; or supporting students through the TC Annual Fund.

Financial flexibility is also essential to everyone’s success at TC. The best ideas often arise unexpectedly. We can’t plan that serendipity, but we can create the conditions under which it is most likely to arise, and we can position ourselves to capitalize on it when it does.  The TC Annual Fund, which enables everyone in our community to contribute, at whatever level is right for them, is our mechanism for doing so. If you haven’t given to the Annual Fund before, I urge you to consider taking that first step; and if you have, we need your support, this year and every year.

And finally, another key to our success as an institution is ensuring the kinds of partnerships – both internally and externally – and access to funding that produce creative solutions to the world’s most challenging problems. Just recently, we received a generous gift from an anonymous donor to support our efforts in this direction.

We’re in the beginning stages of much of this work. But what’s already clear is that we’re going to need the time, talent and treasure of the extended TC community more than ever. So stay with us – because the best is yet to be.

Suzanne M. Murphy (M.Ed. ’99, M.A. ’96)
Vice President
Development & External Affairs