St. John’s College, which has campuses in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Annapolis, Maryland, has announced that it has raised more than $326 million, exceeding its goal for its latest capital campaign.

The college’s Freeing Minds campaign was launched publicly in 2018 with a stretch goal of $325 million to shift the college from a tuition-based model to one centered on philanthropy. The funds raised include $80 million added to the college’s endowment, a collection of permanently invested gifts that generate a growing stream of annual income for the college, with an additional $67 million committed to expand the endowment. A $50 million matching gift from alumni Warren and Barbara Winiarski’s Winiarski Family Foundation was the largest single gift ever made to the college, but more than 96 percent of all gifts were of $5,000 or less. 

“A $325 million campaign goal for a college of our size is nearly unheard of,” said collegewide and St. John’s Santa Fe president Mark Roosevelt. “And to have even exceeded that goal—it’s stupendous.” 

“We are so deeply grateful to the alumni, students, staff, faculty, parents, and friends who participated in the campaign,” said St. John’s College Annapolis president Nora Demleitner. “Thanks to their incredible generosity, St. John’s College is able to offer our distinctive curriculum to an ever-more diverse student body, including international students and those from all socioeconomic backgrounds, enriching the vibrancy of our campus community.” 

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Paul Bradbury)