Every Dartmouth generation has risen to the challenge of leaving the College more excellent than they found it. Now is our time.

Last month, we publicly launched The Call to Lead—the most ambitious fundraising campaign in Dartmouth’s history—a $3-billion effort to elevate the institution we know and love and shine a light on her leadership and impact. This historic event marks the culmination of years of planning, hundreds of conversations with Dartmouth faculty and families, and intense discussions and research concerning future priorities and possibilities for the College.

Part of the reason I feel so passionate about this campaign is because of my own undergraduate experience.  When I first arrived in Hanover in the fall of 1973 from the heart of the Adirondacks, I was poorly prepared and untested intellectually, with scant understanding of the world. Just four years later, I confidently entered one of the most selective Ph.D. programs in mathematics, launching a career of leadership within my profession that would ultimately bring me back home to Dartmouth as its 18th president. That didn’t happen by accident. My four years at Dartmouth are the reason I am where I am today.

All of us connected to Dartmouth know that the College is a place of “and.” We believe in the power of teacher and scholar, learner and leader, liberal arts and research. Dartmouth and the world. We believe this because we’ve lived it.

The Call to Lead will advance this distinctive educational model to its fullest potential, increase our capacity—together, as a Dartmouth community—to make discoveries that improve the human condition, and prepare our students for lives of wise leadership.

Why should this matter to you? Because each of us, in our own way, has experienced the transformative power of this institution, its power to take young talent and form graduates who are poised for lives of leadership and impact. Look no further than the cover of this issue to find a fine example in Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand ’88.

We’ve already seen thousands of alumni and their families boldly and generously step forward to answer The Call to Lead. Their response has been humbling and inspiring. As a result of their philanthropic gifts, we will see exciting new buildings rise and cherished old ones renewed. We will see our student body diversify, in both composition and global perspectives, and we will ensure that every student can participate fully in the wonder of the Dartmouth experience. We will see historic levels of support for our faculty as they strive to be committed teachers and outstanding scholars. Above all, we will free our campus from the boundaries that sometimes inhibit institutions of higher learning. In unprecedented ways we will fuel the pioneering spirit and propensity for collaboration between students, faculty, and alumni, between disciplines and schools, and between cultures and generations like never before.

This is our moment to stand united in support of our beloved alma mater, to come together as a community of individuals who have experienced Dartmouth’s magic and who understand, better than anyone, our collective power and potential to positively impact the world.

The Call to Lead is a campaign for all of us. Each of us can play a meaningful role as philanthropist, advocate, or volunteer. On the eve of our 250th anniversary year, I urge each of you to find your passion—the part of your Dartmouth experience that had the greatest effect on you—and intensify that impact for future generations by supporting this effort. There is nothing this community, working together, can’t achieve.