Columbia has paused one of its biggest student scholarship fundraisers for the academic year — replacing it with fundraising tied to President and CEO Shantay Bolton’s investiture, an event that centers the president.
The college said it will hold another fundraising celebration in the fall. Students receiving persistence scholarships this academic year were not affected.
An investiture is a once-in-a-presidency moment, and the one on Thursday, March 5 will mark Bolton’s formal start.
The new administration created the Renaissance Innovation for Student Excellence Fund, or RISE Fund, which according to Columbia’s Development and Alumni Relations, “provides seed funding for innovative programs at the intersection of art, AI and emerging technologies; supports faculty and student research; builds strategic partnerships with industry and community organizations; and creates targeted scholarships that prepare students to lead the creative industries of tomorrow.”
But the RISE Fund is not the Persistence Scholarships. Where past galas raised money awarded directly to students facing financial hardship — students at risk of not graduating — the RISE Fund is designed to fund an array of areas at the college. Both are worthy investments, but they are just different.
Columbia has not explained how students who relied on Persistence Scholarships will be protected and supported as philanthropic efforts shift under the new administration.
The fundraising numbers make the lack of explanation hard to ignore. The gala raised $750,000 in 2022, over $700,000 in 2023 and $640,000 in 2024.
Donors tend to give more when they attend in person and can see student work on display. Folding the fundraiser into the investiture — a ceremony that is, by definition, about the president — shifts some of the focus away from the students.
We are glad that student work and performances will still take place after the formal ceremony that marks Bolton’s official start.
The investiture is President Bolton’s moment to set the tone for the future of fundraising at the college. The administration must lay out a clear timeline for fall fundraising and explain how Persistence Scholarships will be sustained.
Copy edited by Katie Peters and Matt Brady
