Scotch College

Rejoicing and renewal

Rooms to honour Old Boys now deceased and members of staff who live in the memory. … Seats donated by a graduating class, and others to recognise Captains of Music and close relatives. … Auditoriums to honour distinguished Australian contributors to music and communication. … An endowment in the name of a revered Director of Music. …

These are a few of my favourite things!

They are also hallmarks of a most successful and satisfying capital campaign for The James Forbes Academy. By the official closing date (23 March), the total stood at $7,032,571, with several gifts big and small still in the offing.

This was one of the two or three largest appeals ever conducted by an Australian school, and I'll wager it is the shortest: just two years and three days since the launch of the Leadership Gifts phase in March 1999.

The planning, of course, went much further back. The Foundation's Board of Trustees first discussed the idea of a performing arts centre in 1988, and the School Council and architect have been working hard on it for several years. It is by far the most complex building project in Scotch's history; but when the Music School opens (prospectively in mid-2002) and the major auditoriums are added (hopefully by 2004), Scotch will have a facility which few (if any) schools in the world can match. By then, a new generation of parents will be putting their names on the remaining rooms and seats, and no doubt a fresh capital campaign for some other ambitious and exciting project will be on the drawing board, for (like its influence) a school's wish-list is never-ending.

Astonishing generosity

To date, the astonishing generosity of the Scotch Family has resulted in the naming of twenty-one performance, teaching, practice and ancillary spaces, and over 310 seats in the Music Auditorium and Geoffrey McComas Theatre. A Foundation Board sub-committee is currently collaborating with the School to determine how best to give these donors prominent and permanent recognition.

We remain extremely grateful to Richard and Jeanne Pratt (whose pledge of $1 million for the theatre got the campaign off to a spectacular start, and inspired many other donors), to the Old Scotch Collegians' Association (whose bold commitment to underwrite the Annual Fund will guarantee $1 million over six years), to the 448 donors whose gifts ranged from hundreds of dollars to $500,000, and to the hundreds of other parents and Old Boys who supported the campaign through annual giving.

So many have helped that it is impossible to name each of them, but I must single out the School Council Chairman Michael Robinson, Principal Dr Gordon Donaldson and the leadership team of the OSCA (whose enthusiasm for the campaign was a constant encouragement); Bursar Neil Roberts and members of the administrative, grounds, maintenance and catering staffs (whose unstinting labours helped make our launch dinners so memorable); architect Garry Martin for his vivid and enticing plans and artist's impressions; the creators, designers and producers of our brochure and 3-D video; and board members, table captains and others who took on the challenging but rewarding task of asking for money.

Three Indispensable people

I reserve my highest praise for three indispensable people: Director of Development Peter Crook, Development Officer Margaret Long and Leadership Gifts Chairman Sandy Murdoch. No appeal leader could wish for more talented, dedicated, knowledgeable or reliable allies. We'll miss Peter and Marg enormously, but what was said of Christopher Wren (architect of St Paul's Cathedral in London) applies equally to these two latter-day saints of educational fundraising: 'If you seek a monument, look around you'.

The curtain may have fallen on the campaign, but the larger show goes on. The real challenge now - and it is one for the whole School community - is to ensure that the people, programmes, productions and experiences live up to the extraordinary building which will hold them. In three years' time,

I dream of seeing and hearing picturesque walls, crowded corridors, effervescent foyers, full houses, electrifying stages, eloquent platforms, standing ovations, cacophonous classrooms, frenetic backstage areas - in short, an Academy for the ages and for all ages, teeming with visions brought imaginatively to life.

Like Stephen Covey, I firmly believe that the essence of existence is to live, love, learn and leave a legacy. In exchange for the immeasurable benefits of the first three, the fourth exceeds obligation and becomes a privilege and a pleasure.

It has been my greatest privilege to serve Scotch in this way, and a profound joy (and relief!) to see a daunting target exceeded. Again, my sincere thanks to all those who have caught this vision and share in the anticipation of its realisation, to the benefit of the School and the wider community.

Campbell McComas
Campaign Chairman