$650 Million Forever Uncommon Campaign Launches

Mount Holyoke College has publicly launched Forever Uncommon: The Campaign for Mount Holyoke College, a comprehensive $650 million fundraising campaign to advance academic excellence, expand opportunities for students and reimagine campus life for future generations. The largest campaign in the College’s nearly two-century history, it is also the most ambitious ever undertaken by a women’s college.

The campaign has already secured more than $405 million in gifts and commitments since its leadership phase began in July 2020. It builds on a year of record-breaking momentum: in fiscal year 2026, Mount Holyoke raised $67.6 million, the highest annual fundraising total in the College’s history. More than 9,000 donors made gifts, The Mount Holyoke Fund set its own record at $11.4 million and 100% of trustees participated.

Forever Uncommon will invest in three interconnected priorities to shape Mount Holyoke’s third century:

Where Ideas Ignite: Advancing the ideas, teaching and research that define academic excellence at Mount Holyoke by endowing new faculty positions, expanding faculty and student research and supporting the Faculty Research Initiative to accelerate interdisciplinary discovery.

Where Futures Unfold: Expanding opportunities for students to pursue bold paths by growing the scholarship and financial aid endowment by 50%, expanding Lynk internship funding to help every student graduate with at least two professional experiences and strengthening career readiness through programs like Sophomore Institute and Industry Treks.

Where Community Thrives: Creating a more sustainable and connected campus by renewing residence halls, gathering spaces and learning environments, including restoring Rooke Theatre, renovating Williston Library and transforming Clapp Laboratory into an Academic Commons that brings together student advising and support.

The campaign arrives at a pivotal moment for higher education. Colleges and universities face rising financial and political pressures, while growing social divides and rapid technological change reshape how people learn and work. Mount Holyoke’s answer is what it has always been: an uncommon vision, built for uncommon times.

The campaign takes its name from the uncommon spirit that has defined Mount Holyoke since its founding. In 1834, Mary Lyon set out with a green velvet purse, going door-to-door to raise the $1,000 needed to bring her vision for women’s education to life. Three years later, Mount Holyoke opened its doors. Nearly two centuries later, Forever Uncommon calls on a global community of more than 40,000 alums, parents and friends to write the College’s boldest chapter yet.

The name also echoes a promise generations of Mount Holyoke students have sung together in the College’s alma mater: “Mount Holyoke forever shall be.” Forever Uncommon carries that pledge into the College’s third century.

“Mount Holyoke’s mission has always rested on the same three commitments: learning, connection and shared purpose,” said Danielle R. Holley, president of Mount Holyoke College. “Forever Uncommon is how we invest in all three: in the faculty who deepen our students’ learning, in the residence halls and gathering spaces that build connection, and in the scholarships and career support that turn shared purpose into a lifetime of impact. This is the largest commitment we have ever made to our own excellence, and I’m asking everyone in our community to support it in whatever ways they can.”

“The Board of Trustees is deeply confident in Mount Holyoke’s future,” said Sally Durdan ’81, chair of the Mount Holyoke College Board of Trustees. “This campaign, the most ambitious ever undertaken by a women’s college, reflects our community’s conviction: that Mount Holyoke, and the students it educates, are worth investing in. I invite everyone who shares our conviction to join us.”

“As a graduate of women’s schools and a Mount Holyoke parent, I’ve seen from both sides what this education makes possible,” said Kassandra Jolley ’P28, vice president for college relations. “Last year our community gave more than ever before. Forever Uncommon asks every alum, parent and friend to build on that momentum, so the next generation of Mount Holyoke students can go even further.”

The public launch marks the culmination of years of planning informed by trustees, faculty, staff, students and thousands of alums. As the campaign enters its public phase, every member of the Mount Holyoke community has an opportunity to help shape the College’s future and carry its uncommon legacy forward.