The gift—the largest in the College's history—will help fund a transformative renovation of the library.
President Daniel H. Weiss is delighted to announce that Howard W. Lutnick, the chair of Haverford College's Board of Managers and a Class of 1983 graduate, has made an unprecedented new gift that will propel the College's most ambitious campus restoration and reinvention plan in well over half a century.
Lutnick, the chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P., one of the world's leading financial services firms, is giving $25 million, which will be directed to substantially renovate the library. The new spaces and capabilities planned for the Library will launch the facility as a beautiful, state-of-the art institution that will truly transform the entire campus. Lutnick's support is the lead gift in a comprehensive campaign now underway, which went public on October 25.
The $25 million donation represents the single largest gift in the College's history, and, as the largest donor to the College, Lutnick's commitment to Haverford is unparalleled. Including this gift, Lutnick has given nearly $65 million to date.
“I applaud Howard's unwavering commitment to Haverford, his passion for supporting the College's richly deserved reputation for excellence in so many ways, and his spectacular generosity in support of this keystone capital project,” said President Weiss.
In addition to his roles as chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, Lutnick is chairman and CEO of BGC Partners, Inc., a leading global brokerage company servicing the financial and real estate markets. Lutnick guided the rebuilding of Cantor following the devastating September 11, 2001, World Trade Center attacks that claimed the lives of 658 of the firm's 960 New York-based employees. Since then, Cantor has provided over $180 million to help the families of the firm's employees who perished. Each year on their annual Charity Day, Cantor and BGC, in conjunction with the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund, donate their entire global revenues to approximately 150 charitable causes around the world, totaling over $110 million to date. Lutnick lives in New York City with his wife Allison and their four children.
The Lives That Speak campaign is a $225 million affirmation of Haverford's academic excellence and historical commitment to the value of an ethical life.
In April 2014, the College's Board of Managers approved a 10-year strategic plan for institutional development. The campaign will be the vehicle by which the plan's goals are realized. The Campaign for Haverford aims to:
Create greater depth, breadth and relevance across the curriculum, incorporating new and expanded programs in Global Perspectives, Social Policy and Public Value, and Visual and Computational Studies.
Enhance facilities for growth and learning that best support discourse, creativity, scholarship, and community.
Make Haverford affordable for all academically qualified students regardless of financial need.
Educate “the whole student” to ensure their success at Haverford and beyond, through investments in ethical leadership programs, career development, technology, and more.
Ensure the College's financial sustainability in order to have the resources, flexibility, and increased capacity needed for innovation and responsiveness to changing needs.
By meeting each of these goals, Haverford will have the resources to prepare students to“let their lives speak” by fostering the skills, the compassion and the resolve to understand, interpret and overcome the many problems facing our world.
