President Coleman Honored with $1-Million Award for Extraordinary Leadership

October 10, 2005

A private New York foundation has presented Bennington College with an extremely rare gift--$1 million in unrestricted funds--to establish The Elizabeth Coleman Presidential Discretionary Fund. The award formally recognizes President Coleman's passionate, 18-year commitment to the College's long-standing tradition of academic innovation and all that she has "accomplished with [her] desire to assist the development of young people."

It is one of only two such gifts ever made by the Foundation (the other went to a private New York college) and as noted in the award letter, "the likelihood of it making another gift of this kind is extremely remote."

"This remarkable gift from the Foundation is testimony to all that Bennington College has accomplished under the leadership of Liz Coleman, particularly in the last 10 years," says Deborah Wadsworth, chairman of the board of Bennington College. "All of us in the Bennington College community deeply appreciate the Foundation's recognition of these successes and join the Foundation in celebrating our president."

The establishment of The Elizabeth Coleman Presidential Discretionary Fund is yet another demonstration of this Foundation's long-standing support for Bennington College, which now totals more than $5 million. It comes on the heels of record-breaking gifts from two Bennington alumni that total more than $20 million.