Emma Willard, the all-girls private boarding school in Troy, has launched a $175 million campaign to further its goal of supporting and educating young girls.
The “Infinite Horizon” capital campaign began with a $30 million donation by alumna Alice Dodge Wallace, who graduated in 1938. Head of School Jenny Rao spoke to WAMC on a recent campus visit.
“I think her greatest legacy to Emma Willard will be the fact that she hoped that her philanthropy would inspire others and that's exactly what she is doing through this campaign.”
The large boarding school, which looks like something out of Downton Abbey, sits on 137 acres and has 351 students, 233 boarding students and 118 are day students.
Rao says a large portion of the funding will go towards converting the school’s chapel into a performing arts center. The campaign has raised $118 million towards its goal.
“We have some wonderful renderings that you can see online. We hired an architect (whose) expertise (is) on historic preservation. So, we're able to respect the entire facade of the building, much of the internal beautiful architecture will actually come to life even more through this renovation. And then we're going to have an annex that will be a subterranean connector to the chapel that will have important spaces for our arts program, in effect creating an arts precinct for Emma Willard.”
The project will preserve a rare, more than 50-year-old pipe organ. It’s the first modern baroque-style "tracker" pipe organ to be built in the Capital Region and one of only a few instruments of its kind in upstate New York. The construction will also remove a defunct wooden two-lane bowling alley beneath the chapel.
Also connected to the campaign’s strategic plan is student wellbeing. WAMC visited the campus the morning after the mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas.
“There is ample data that shows that there is a significant increase in anxiety and depression in adolescents and I am certain that some of the state of our world contributes to it - in addition to other things - the presence of social media and a whole host of other factors,” Rao said. “So, as educators it is our role to do what we need to do to help our students meet this moment to find how they can have a sense of hope and agency as they make their way in the world and how they can create a better future.”
Rao says the school has added counselors and mental health advisors.
“Because we don't want wellness at Emma to simply be reactive to for example, when there's a tragedy or where something occurs,” she said.
Emma Willard is no stranger to tragedy. A report issued in 2017 detailed a history of sexual misconduct between staff and students dating back more than 50 years. Rao says the school has changed its policies since the report and prioritized student safety.
Along with the new performing arts center, Rao says the funding will go toward increasing access and affordability. According to the school’s website, tuition, room and board costs $67,270 for boarding students. Tuition is $41,600 for day students. Rao says many students receive financial aid.
“In this year, because of our success, in the quiet phase of our campaign, we made a concerted decision to freeze tuition for the coming year, knowing that our families have had like people across the country in the world difficult times with COVID.”
Tenth-grader Krisha J. attends Emma Willard with financial aid. Because of her age, WAMC was asked to withhold her full last name. The Albany resident explained what drew her to the school.
“When I was looking at it, I saw the amazing campus, first of all, and then I realized that this school was founded on such a great reasoning (for) women's education and I thought that was wonderful and I thought that was very important,” Krisha said. “So, when I was recommended to go to the school, I was like, ‘Yes, I want to go here!’”
Krisha says she is interested in medicine, particularly cardiac anesthesiology. She says Emma Willard fosters both her scientific and creative interests. She described a project she completed last year that showed the benefits of creative activities and mental health during the pandemic.
“I like to represent creativity a lot. So, I was able to show that just being creative … and a lot of that has to do with like, arts, cooking, baking, hiking … any of those things that just make you feel happy can really help with that kind of stuff.”
Krisha also has a love for Indian classical dance and has graduated to teaching other young girls. She says she’s sad she won’t get a chance to perform at the new Dodge Wallace Art Center. Construction will not be completed before she expects to graduate in spring 2024.
“When I’m an alum, I would love to come back and do something there!”