Hendrix College passed an important milestone on Dec. 31, 2010. A Commitment to National Leadership: The Hendrix Campaign came to a successful close. With the support of alumni, parents, friends, foundations and the United Methodist Church we surpassed our campaign goals. We raised more than $101.3 million and fulfilled the Trustees’ priority to position Hendrix as a national leader in engaged liberal arts and sciences education.
This campaign financed a variety of new facilities that have raised the level of experience for all Hendrix students including the Art Buildings, the Wellness and Athletics Center, and the Student Life and Technology Center. But, the construction projects are only the most visible result of our fund-raising efforts. The Hendrix Campaign was about more than bricks and mortar. It was about programmatic changes and curricular and co-curricular changes that were entrepreneurial and innovative.
Many of the goals of the campaign are embodied in Your Hendrix Odyssey: Engaging in Active Learning. Odyssey was created by taking things that are organic to us and that represent what we value about the nature of our liberal arts and sciences education and making them real for all our students.
Your Hendrix Odyssey has lengthened the shadow of the institution and has created a national buzz. We’ve created that buzz by putting a name to what we believe and putting the dollars behind it to make it happen. We created things like the Odyssey Endowment that funds student grants, Odyssey Distinction Awards that recognize students for their gifts, talents and passions, and Odyssey Professorships that provide grants to fuel faculty creativity and innovation.
Through the course of this campaign, one new idea has led to another idea: together we have built the momentum necessary to move Hendrix forward. With the campaign complete, it is our task to build on our current momentum and keep Hendrix moving forward. To that end, we have already begun the process that will lead to another set of Board Priorities like the 2003 version that served as the impetus for this campaign.
The next strategic initiative will be focused on how we secure ourselves as an institution that is prestigious, has broad market appeal and is firmly positioned as the leader in hands-on liberal arts and sciences education. Over the next year or so, in conversation with the Trustees, the faculty, students, alumni and friends of the College, we will outline a new vision for the future of Hendrix – a vision for 2022 that will help launch students on their life’s odyssey. Our vision will be bold and our goals ambitious. A bold vision and ambitious goals will inspire us to continue our journey and see what new wonders we can discover together on our Hendrix Odyssey.
J. Timothy Cloyd, Ph.D.
President