President's Message - Answering the challenge - Fall 2009

Brian C. Mitchell
Bucknell Magazine
Fall 2009

Bucknell has felt the impact of the economic downturn in many ways. Students and their families have confronted new financial challenges, some of them extremely difficult. We had to freeze compensation for our faculty and staff. Around the world, alumni of all ages, across multiple professions, have faced the prospect of layoffs and other serious problems resulting from the worst economic turmoil in 80 years. When events like this global financial mess unfold, the reality that we are not just a university, but instead a community, becomes starkly clear.

The Bucknell community again has rallied in the face of adversity. For example:

  • Alumni, parents and friends of the University met our internship challenge and offered more than 500 internships for Bucknell students this summer.
  • Contributions to the University's Annual Fund surpassed $10 million in cash gifts for the first time in Bucknell's history.
  • Total contributions through the fiscal year ending in July 2009 topped $45.7 million, the second-highest total in Bucknell's history. This raises the campaign total to more than $122 million in its first 24 months, or 31 percent of the campaign's $400 million goal.
  • Parents gave a single-year record $1,422,000 and more than 42 percent of all current
    Bucknell parents contributed, including 45 percent of Class of 2012 parents — a record for first-year parent classes.
  • New career networking and mentoring relationships have blossomed, including new professional networking initiatives and online communities (alumni can check them out at B-Link, the alumni online community).

Our thanks to all of you who have made these significant examples of volunteering, leadership and generosity possible, and for your continued commitment to Bucknell.

Meanwhile, the University set aside extra financial aid to ensure that we could help students with demonstrated financial need whose family resources changed due to global economic problems. We continue to do so.The Board and the administration are committed to protecting the strength of the University, whatever the economy may bring.

Which leads me to my final point: Perhaps the clearest indication of Bucknell's enduring strength is that another stellar class has enrolled. The Class of 2013 totals 921 students. More than 7,500 applied to be part of it, and 2,261 were admitted. Our admissions rate was 29.8 percent, and our yield rate (the percentage of admitted students who enroll, a sign that we were their first choice) was 41 percent. Few universities can boast of such selectivity. These new Bucknellians have made it unequivocally clear that, whatever challenges lie ahead, they believe in the future of Bucknell too.