The Franklin Forward campaign positions Franklin College to adhere to the best of its attributes while adapting to the changing world of higher education. It perpetuates the kinds of experiences students and alumni celebrate as formative while leaning into new academic subjects and disciplines. It allows Franklin College to grow in all the ways that matter without overshadowing its essential identity as a small liberal arts and sciences college.

By completing fundraising for the Elwood Fitness Center, Franklin Forward provides essential resources to a college where 60% of incoming students are athletes and countless others rely on sports for recreation, community, physical fitness and mental health.

By offering increased opportunities for endowing scholarships, programs, faculty positions and experiences, it ensures that the very best of what defines the Franklin College experience can thrive into the future.

By increasing the endowment, Franklin Forward equips the College to navigate the coming demographic cliff that will result in a reduced pool of prospective students.

By emphasizing estate giving and longer-term philanthropic options, Franklin Forward prepares the College to greet its upcoming 200th anniversary with strength and great expectations.

Through Franklin Forward, Franklin College will approach its third century as a liberal arts and sciences institution that provides students with experiences they would not find at other colleges. Men and women who graduate from Franklin College will pair the digital fluency required in the 21st century with the timeless knowledge demanded of a functioning society. They will carry a spirit of innovation into the marketplace, confident that they have a community of mentors, peers and allies who will support them in their endeavors.

In short, Franklin Forward will carry the best of Franklin College — the attributes and qualities the College and its community have honed for nearly 200 years — into the future, sustaining and energizing an institution that doesn’t seek to grow solely for the sake of size but, rather, for the sake of impact.

Campaign Chair and Trustee Rob Brown, an entrepreneur and retired Eli Lilly executive, is not a Franklin College grad, but he is a huge fan because he is impressed by what the College offers to students and the way it is envisioning the future. He quickly saw something special in the small college setting and liberal arts focus.

“I see it as a game-changer. Having technical skills is important, but it’s the agility from a liberal arts and sciences foundation that really helps you thrive.”