Be All In
For over 175 years, Beloit College has transformed lives. The Be All In Campaign is our call to support the college for the next 175 years.
Why they are all in
Lois More Overbeck'66
English Literature
I had an advanced class with Professor Marion Stocking my freshman year. After graduate school and a few decades of life and family, we met again in her retirement haven in Maine. She also visited my office at Emory University to see the legacy her own teaching, editing experience, and friendship had influenced: The Letters of Samuel Beckett, which I was co-editing for Cambridge University Press.
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Cameron Dieter'16
History & Political Science
A political theorist, Professor Jill Budny arranged to hold a small off-campus seminar with students, including a number of graduate students, from two other Midwest colleges to compare and contrast Shakespeare as a political strategist with Machiavelli and others. She invited me and a few other students along, and then quizzed us on the salient points of the discussion during the two-hour ride home.
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Phil “P.G.” Kraemer'88
Psychology & Classics
While I was struggling in Professor Ranjan Roy’s mathematics class, I went to him for help and he kindly suggested changing course to pursue my real academic passion — the Classics. It was life-changing advice.
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Mary Riley'90
Anthropology
Admissions officer Frank Crivello was my first contact with Beloit College. If he happened to see me walk past Middle College to classes, he’d yell out of his window to flag me down. Then I’d walk over, and we’d chat a bit. That welcoming, supportive gesture was emblematic of my experience at Beloit.
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Alfred Kraemer'73
English Literature & Philosophy
When my father died unexpectedly during my senior year, I hurried home to be with my family. When I got there, Professor Scott Crom had already sent a telegram telling me to stay home as long as I needed and that he and Professor Chad Walsh would talk to my professors. Both men were gentle, caring people who treated students with respect and affection.
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Tori Key'03
Economics & Management
As director of the McNair Scholars Program, Associate Dean DeVon Wilson’90 was a fierce advocate for first-generation minority students like me to work through our self-doubt and go on to graduate studies, many as Ph.Ds.
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Mike Knapton'97
Elementary Education
Professor Tom Warren introduced me to a plethora of educational tools to use inside the classroom to help engage students with all types of learning styles. He taught me that meeting their individual needs in the classroom was essential to effective learning. I have been a special education teacher for over 15 years. The experience and knowledge of the education department helped me with preparing to be a good educator.
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Jon Mason'80
Economics & International Relations
I hated studying German so much I was about to quit. Then Professor Bob Irrmann convinced me to tough it out so I could attend a seminar in Hamburg the next year. I did. And I not only became fluent in German, I stayed to work there, leading to a long career in international business.
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Oceana R. Gilliam'17
Russian & Political Science
Professor Donna Oliver supported me since my very first day at Beloit. As my Russian faculty advisor, she guided me through my Russian study abroad program, introduced me to the work of poet Alexander Pushkin, and mentored me as a Ronald E. McNair Research Scholar.
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Bengisu Erenli Abramsky'93
Economics, Math & Computer Science
Professor Jerry Gustafson’63 not only convinced me to leave Turkey to attend Beloit, he helped me gain early admission to the University of Chicago’s MBA program and connected me to a corporate job — all before I even graduated.
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Cam Murray'80
Chemistry
Dr. Phil Straffin’s willingness to block out an afternoon to tutor me on trigonometry allowed me to get into the chemistry program, which led to my career as a polymer chemist.
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Charlie Baxter'14
Psychology
Professor Suzanne Cox had such faith in me as an individual: she wrote a strong recommendation that led to my Honors Term project even though my GPA was slightly under the 3.2 minimum required to apply. This act of grace allowed me to help establish a student leadership program at Beloit, and it launched my career in experiential learning.
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James Ettorre'77
Student
Professor Tom McBride was an inspiration. It is thanks to him that I can express myself clearly with the written word. I remember one class where he analyzed a single page of a memoir, demonstrating why it was so persuasive and focused. My head was spinning by the end of the class. I learned how to dive deep into writing to understand its effect.
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Christina Hildebrandt'89
Modern Languages and Literatures
Professor of Russian Nicholas Paley opened my eyes to what an academic life could be like: working for the Vatican, translating Nahuatl, becoming an expert in an obscure but fascinating area. He also inspired me to want to live an inspiring life so that others find inspiration in me!
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Joan Hadley Cabreza'65
Biology
In 1963, Dr. Carl Welty, head of the Biology Department, called me in and encouraged me to apply for a pilot program in Costa Rica under the new Beloit Plan to begin in 1964. I did, and it altered the entire course of my life, leading to graduate work at the East-West Center in Hawaii (also a Welty suggestion) and eventually to two decades of biological work in Asia and the South Pacific. He was an amazing professor!
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Are you All In for Beloit?
Did becoming a Beloiter change your life?
Did you find your path, your soulmate, your direction, your purpose by being a Beloiter?
Was there one professor, advisor, or alum who went out of their way to see you succeed, or engage you in a transformative conversation you remember to this day?
Do you want to see Beloit thrive?
Then we invite you to Be All In for Beloit College right now.
Why now?
Over the past few years, Beloit has taken the bold step of strengthening its financial position while facing increasing competition for students and highly qualified professors.
The College paid down most of its debt and its leadership drafted the Beloit Action Plan, aimed at making the highly individualized education that sets Beloit apart even more relevant in today’s fast-changing world.
Beloit is now offering more intense student mentoring, a powerful program connecting college to careers, and bigger financial aid packages to help students and their families keep pace with today’s cost of higher education.
The Be All In Campaign
In February 2020, Beloit publicly launched its extraordinary fundraising campaign: Be All In to raise $54 million in unrestricted support over the next five years.
The response from alumni and friends, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been extraordinary, indeed.
Your gifts to the campaign allow our students opportunities that will serve them for the rest of their lives—just like your Beloit experiences have served you.
What’s Included in the Be All In Campaign?
With your investment, Beloit will be here another 175 years.
The changes are paying off
The college has devised a strong five-year financial plan to address the headwinds. Enrollment growth will take several years, so in the meantime, we are asking our alumni and friends to join us in building the runway on which to taxi, until our numbers and net tuition revenue bounce back.
The great news? The plan is already working.
- We’ve received extensive national attention for our COVID response and success, and our happy and participatory students: we are a success story and still the same adventurous, resilient community as always
- Our retention rates have averaged 98% in the past two years, a sign of huge student satisfaction
- We were ranked #5 Most Innovative Colleges by USNews.
- Giving and engagement are growing.
But there is more to be done. For Beloit to fully implement its Action Plan, it must cover existing financial gaps until enrollment and net tuition revenue fully rebound.
We want the best and brightest to have access to the experiences that only Beloit provides. Today, more than 99 percent of Beloiters receive financial aid—nearly $30 million annually. This support is provided through the generosity of the college’s alumni, parents, and friends: Beloiters supporting Beloiters.
Beloit is the oldest continuously operating private college in Wisconsin and, with your investment, we will be here for the next 175 years.
We invite you to join us with your gift for this extraordinary campaign and Be All In for Beloit College.