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Annual Impact Report 2021-2022

Fort Lewis grads line up for commencement

Together, we achieved the most successful fundraising year in FLC's history

Melissa MountThroughout the 2021 - 2022 academic year, your extraordinary generosity helped us overcome challenges and reach new summits. Because of you, we accomplished a banner year of support for Fort Lewis College - raising more than $9 million in resources that directly fuel opportunities for our students and our community. Thank you!

—Melissa Mount, Vice President of Advancement, Fort Lewis College; CEO, FLC Foundation

Faith RoesselWe need your partnership and we need your generosity so the summits are not insurmountable for our students. We are blessed by the mountains that encircle our campus and that strength makes all of us strong and hopeful for the future. We are honored to be the steadfast stewards of your gifts and to share this report showcasing the impact you specifically and collectively had on FLC in the 2021–22 academic year. Ahéhee’.

—Faith Roessel (Sociology, ‘78), FLC Foundation Board Chair

By the numbers

Total donors icon
2,438
total donors

New donors icon
784
new donors

Dollar sign icon
$9,310,447
total invested in the FLC Foundation

Graduate cap icon
$1.15 million
in scholarships awarded

Your gift matters

Top supported initiatives

School of Arts & Sciences • School of Business Administration • School of Education • Skyhawk Athletics • President’s Impact Fund

New #GivingTuesday record

On Giving Tuesday 2021, 319 Skyhawk supporters backed various campus initiatives raising a total of $525,682.

Soaring Hawk impact

Our 86 Soaring Hawk members establish meaningful legacies through planned estate gifts. More than $1.1 million was realized from Soaring Hawk members supporting scholarships, Community Concert Hall programs, and more.

Alumni Engagement impact

Not only did our alumni donors grow almost 8% over last year, but they also provided over 500 hours of volunteer hours! The Alumni Engagement team hosted 16 events across the country and awarded 43 Alumni Scholarships to students in need.

Your generosity invests in TODAY'S students, for a more sustainable future TOMORROW, creating a stronghold of academic excellence FOREVER.

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Your gift puts students at the center

A teacher education student works with elementary school kids on a poster.

Student teaching scholarship assistance award

All 41 Teacher Education students in their semester of Student Teaching received a scholarship assistance award of between $500 and $1,000 from the Sandra Mapel Student Teacher Scholarship Fund.

Two Native American business students on graduation day in their caps and gowns.

Johnson Scholarship Foundation

This year, Native American business students benefitted from the most significant scholarship endowment in FLC’s history with a $1 million pledge from the Johnson Scholarship Foundation.

A student writes notes in the Academic Hub

Summer Bridge programs

With more than $105,000 raised for innovative Summer Bridge programs, you’ve helped students find access to the extra support they need to succeed.

People walk across campus in front of the library sign that reads, FLC Together

Skyhawk emergency grants

You helped us raise more than $23,000 in emergency assistance for 46 students struggling with COVID-19 and other challenges, including lack of work, housing, transportation, caring for dependents, and more.

"We (Melanie and I) chose to support the JSF Native American Business Student Scholarship Endowment because we wanted to empower others to experience the benefit of a business degree, the potential to recognize just how powerful one can be, and the realization that an appetite for learning is a lifelong journey. If I can do it other Native students can do it too!"

—Shane Siebel (Business Administration '13), Director, FLC Foundation

Your gift springs learning into action

A student intern takes soil samples in the mountains

Internships

You helped us raise more than $50,000 to support paid student internship experiences focused on regenerative agriculture, food security, health sciences, and more.

Two rafts flow down a river through a canyon

Academic programs and initiatives

Together, we raised nearly $400,000 for the Fort Lewis on the Water (FLOW) program, supporting 25 student employees and interns to launch 25 river trips for 290 participants in FLC programs and community partnerships.

A Fort Lewis College student reads amidst a row of books at the Reed Library.

Alpine Bank Loyalty Support

Proceeds from the Alpine Bank Loyalty Card were used to award more than $30K toward faculty, staff, and students-led programs like first-generation student mentorship, innovations at Reed Library, hands-on lab experiences for chemistry students, and more.

Soaring Hawk impact

"Indiana Reed supported all we did at the Community Concert Hall, and never in my wildest imagination did I know how much. Indi’s gift came during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic when performing arts centers like ours were closed. The bequest made certain that when we reopened in summer 2021, our programs continued to bring performing artists from around the world to our community and supported Fort Lewis College students as they resumed performing on the Concert Hall Stage."

—Charles Leslie, Director, Community Concert Hall

As a Soaring Hawk member, Indiana ‘Indi’ Reed bequeathed more than $380K to the Community Concert Hall. Her memory inspired more than $11K in additional gifts from 23 friends and family members, ranging from $20 to $5K.

Your gift supports healthier communities

An aerial shot of FLC campus and Durango.

Housing solutions

Through an innovative partnership, the FLC Board of Trustees and FLC Foundation designated $1 million to launch a mortgage assistance program for FLC faculty and staff.

Students and staff hold food from the Grub Hub outside on campus.

Grub Hub

With nearly $27,000 raised for the Grub Hub Food Pantry, students find the support they need to fulfill their basic needs, access healthy food, and build community.

A nurse stands in scrubs holding charts.

Nursing collaborative

Thanks to more than $1.3 million in donor support, the stars aligned to launch the CU-FLC Nursing Collaborative to begin offering nursing degrees on the FLC Campus.

A construction team stands in front of the Schlessman Family Hall construction site.

Schlessman Family Hall

We secured more than $3.5 million in gifts and commitments to help us exceed our fundraising goals for the cash match for the new health sciences building.

Soaring Hawk impact

"Because of your support, I can continue my music education and pursue my dream of playing in a professional orchestra...As an incoming freshman student, I am so grateful for your early support of my music education."

—Bethany Haverly, Viola Wommer Hallsted Music Scholarship recipient

The Viola Wommer Hallsted Music Scholarship is made possible by an estate gift from late Soaring Hawk members, Ora and Clifford McCathron.

Your gift celebrates our diverse communities

Native American apparel and weavings on display at the center of southwest studies

Center of Southwest Studies, ‘As Seeds, We Grow’ exhibit

A concerted effort of the FLC President’s Impact Fund, Andy Warhol Foundation, Women's Foundation of Colorado, and Ballantine Family Fund provided financial support for 13 student and 4 alumni artist contributors for the “As Seeds, We Grow” exhibit at the Center of Southwest Studies.

A Native American drum circle performs at Fort Lewis College graduation ceremony.

Colorado Trust

We received our first philanthropic grant from the Colorado Trust to support the College's Trust, Healing, Reconciliation efforts.

Soaring Hawk impact

"I want to thank you for the financial assistance you have graciously contributed towards my academic career. As a single father, I cannot stress to you what this opportunity means to me...My major financial need stems from the fact that I am balancing being a devoted single father and a dedicated full-time student. As one might imagine, this creates some complications in my daily routine, but I am unwilling to compromise my integrity as a father, nor the example I am setting for my children to make a better life for us by completing my Engineering Degree."

—Jacob Appenzeller, McCathron Engineering Scholarship recipient

The McCathron Engineering Scholarship is made possible by an estate gift from late Soaring Hawk members, Ora and Clifford McCathron.

View the 2020-2021 FLC Foundation Annual Impact Report

Your gifts are how we SOAR. From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU! And GO SKYHAWKS!

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