We, Here, Now: Gettysburg College launches $200 million campaign
Gettysburg College launched its $200 million comprehensive campaign during Homecoming Weekend, uniting its community under the campaign theme “We, Here, Now.” Rooted in lifelong relationships and a shared sense of place, the campaign invites Gettysburgians to expand opportunities and transform lives for generations ahead.
The friendships that bring Gettysburgians back. The professors who help students discover their potential. The places where those connections take root.
Together, these elements form the foundation of We, Here, Now: The Campaign for Gettysburg College, publicly launched Oct. 17 during a Homecoming Weekend celebrating our community and its shared future.
Inside the newly renovated College Union Building Ballroom, alumni, families, and friends marked the beginning of the campaign’s public phase, committing to carry the Gettysburg experience forward. President Bob Iuliano announced that $140.5 million has already been raised toward a $200 million total goal, signifying an extraordinary start to the most ambitious campaign in the College’s nearly 200-year history.
With a campaign name inspired by President Abraham Lincoln’s immortal Gettysburg Address, We, Here, Now connects the people who shape Gettysburg, the place they call home, and the opportunity to strengthen both for generations to come.
“This transformation is not accidental. You’re evidence of that,” Iuliano said, looking out at the gathering of Gettysburgians in the Ballroom. “At Gettysburg, we are better because of one another, and through this campaign, it is up to us to ensure that this hallmark of our education is seen and felt by Gettysburg students for decades to come.”
A lifelong community
Across campus, Homecoming offered opportunities to reconnect with the people who make Gettysburg feel like home. The weekend’s programming spanned academic department gatherings, alumni athletic events, reunion photographs at Pennsylvania Hall, and the Center for Public Service’s 35th anniversary reception.
Each gathering reflected a different part of the Gettysburg community, with connections reaching across class years and extending into students’ lives today.
“We are at a defining moment for this College, and I’ve never been more excited about Gettysburg’s future as I am right now.” – Lauren Wise Bright ’90, Chair of the Board of Trustees
For Board Chair Lauren Wise Bright ’90, that community has shaped a journey from starring as Reno Sweeney in the musical “Anything Goes” on the Kline Theatre stage to helping guide the College’s future as a member of the Board of Trustees. During the campaign celebration, she highlighted a faculty-student partnership that embodies its collaborative spirit.
Art & Art History Prof. Tina Gebhart, whose medical diagnosis has limited the use of her left hand, found a creative partner in studio art and public policy double major Lucas Pacuraru ’27. After connecting during an art department trip to Manhattan, they began exploring how Pacuraru could assist Gebhart at the potter’s wheel.
Lucas Pacuraru ’27 and Art & Art History Prof. Tina Gebhart demonstrate their unique collaboration in making pottery (Photo by Tyler Caruso).
Their collaboration came to life in a live demonstration during the evening’s reception, demonstrating the possibilities that emerge when Gettysburgians support one another.
“By working together, Tina and Lucas found a new way to create. And today, they’re building something neither of them could have achieved alone,” Bright said. “It’s a touching reminder of the good we can do when we lend a hand. When we stand together and give a little more of ourselves for this community.”
Bright noted that while so many colleges across the country are focused on competing against one another, the Gettysburg community continues to fight for one another—for this community—and together we can achieve something extraordinary.
“We are at a defining moment for this College, and I’ve never been more excited about Gettysburg’s future as I am right now,” said Bright.
A shared home
The Bullets Marching Band enters Musselman Stadium prior to the football game against Carnegie Mellon University (Photo by ProArts Media/Doug Huber ’06).
Those relationships give Gettysburg’s familiar landmarks their lasting meaning. In classrooms, studios, and athletic fields, students build connections that become part of who they are. Returning to those spaces reminds alumni of their own growth and the opportunities they can help extend to others.
Vice President for Enrollment & Educational Services Robert Schwartz ’92 recalled a graduation photograph taken beside the Sentinel, an outdoor rock sculpture between Pennsylvania and Glatfelter halls. In the photograph, three generations stood together: Schwartz, his father Thom Schwartz ’67, and his grandfather Henry Schwartz ’42.
For the younger Schwartz, the landmark holds the memory of people who helped make Gettysburg his home. His connection also lives through friendships, including his bond with the late Nick Johnson ’90, whose instinct to welcome others and create opportunities continued long after their undergraduate years.
Vice President for Enrollment and Educational Services Robert Schwartz ’92 shares a heartwarming story about the family and personal connections that carried him through his own journey at Gettysburg (Photo by Tyler Caruso).
Reflecting on Glatfelter Hall and its foundation laid nearly 140 years ago, Schwartz connected those personal memories to the generosity that has sustained the College.
“Every brick was a decision somebody made, and paid for, and walked away from, never knowing who would ever use it,” he said.
The campaign invites today’s Gettysburgians to continue that tradition, investing in places and experiences that future students will make their own.
“Our place, this place, is not inherited,” Schwartz noted. “Our place is given and maintained and given again.”
That spirit of generosity took visible form during the Homecoming celebration through the dedication of three campus spaces: The Rogers Center for Innovation and Creativity, The Sherrin Baky-Nessler and Bruce Baky Boardroom, and the newly created Kono Clapp Garden for Well-being near the Counseling and Wellness Center.
Honoring the generous alumni and families whose support helped shape them, these spaces connect Gettysburg’s tradition of giving with its evolving campus experience. Each venue offers space for new connections to grow through creative exploration, collaboration, or reflection, embodying a shared investment in the people who will gather here for generations to come.
Possibility takes shape
Gettysburg students and faculty from the Environmental Studies Department discuss their research and career goals with alumni and friends prior to the campaign reception (Photo by Tyler Caruso).
Iuliano illustrated what continued investment in the institution makes possible through the experience of political science major Katie LaPlaunt ’28 from Warminster, Pennsylvania.
As a first-year student, LaPlaunt considered dropping her Introduction to International Relations course as she adjusted to college-level expectations. Political Science Prof. Caroline Hartzell encouraged her to push through, meeting with her individually and helping her build confidence through their shared research interests.
LaPlaunt’s final paper became a published work, with Hartzell calling it one of the best first-year papers she’d ever read. Hartzell and Political Science Prof. Lindsay Reid ’11 subsequently invited LaPlaunt into their research, and donor support enabled LaPlaunt to travel with them to Colombia for international fieldwork.
Now, after continuing to research and co-present papers with her faculty mentors, LaPlaunt is considering a doctorate in political science.
“I truly believe we, here, now can shape American higher education by what we choose to do at this pivotal crossroads as a community.” – President Bob Iuliano
Her experience exemplifies the campaign’s priorities: access to a Gettysburg education, close faculty mentorship, and opportunities to apply learning beyond the classroom.
The campaign’s six giving priorities will expand merit- and need-based financial aid; support faculty; increase internships, research, and study abroad opportunities; strengthen advising, leadership, and well-being initiatives; enhance campus spaces and technology; and provide resources to advance the College’s vision. Financial aid is the top priority.
“This is why our campaign matters,” Iuliano said. “It isn’t merely a collection of projects and priorities. It is a promise that the kind of transformation Katie experienced will remain possible for future generations of Gettysburgians.”
Our time
President Bob Iuliano, campaign co-chairs Daria Lo Presti Wallach ’76 and Bill Heyman ’74, P’13, and Board of Trustees Chair Lauren Wise Bright ’90 share a toast to celebrate the public launch of the campaign (Photo by Jason Minick).
With $140.5 million already committed, Gettysburg College’s We, Here, Now campaign enters its public phase with momentum rooted in the generosity and engagement of the Gettysburg community.
In addition to its fundraising goal, the campaign aims to engage 75% of alumni and inspire at least half of our 33,000 alumni across the world to make a gift.
Campaign Executive Committee Co-Chair Bill Heyman ’74, P’13 emphasized that participation can take many forms, from mentoring students and providing internships to supporting the Gettysburg Fund and Orange & Blue Club.
“My hope is that my gift, if even in a small way, encourages you and your friends to make your own gift to Gettysburg.” – Daria Lo Presti Wallach ’76
Fellow campaign co-chair Daria Lo Presti Wallach ’76 described her own philanthropy as an expression of love for the community and confidence in its future. At the start of the campaign, Wallach pledged $10 million to her alma mater, the largest commitment ever made by a living donor in the nearly 200-year history of the institution.
“My hope is that my gift, if even in a small way, encourages you and your friends to make your own gift to Gettysburg,” Wallach said, “to invest like never before for a community that changed your life—and can change the lives of so many more with your help.”
Students, staff, faculty, alumni, and friends watch a drone show on the north side of campus following the campaign's public launch (Photo by Jason Minick).
That invitation extends to every Gettysburgian: Make a gift, share your expertise, and help create the opportunities that will define another student’s Gettysburg experience. The relationships and places that brought this community together can become the foundation for someone else’s future.
“From a distance, Gettysburg may seem impossibly small. A glimmer, suspended among this vast and competitive space. And yet, we know how rare this community is. How precious it is,“ said President Iuliano. “I truly believe we, here, now can shape American higher education by what we choose to do at this pivotal crossroads as a community.”
