Campaign for Acadia surpasses $75-million goal

Nancy Handrigan (’92) named Vice-President, Advancement (Interim)

By Fred Sgambati (’83)

The Campaign for Acadia concluded successfully in December 2020, reaching and surpassing its $75-million goal with a final tally of $86.8 million to support students, faculty, staff and campus infrastructure under each of the four Campaign pillars: Transform; Discover; Inspire; and Build. University President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Peter Ricketts expressed his gratitude to all who contributed to the Campaign, noting that “each gift is invaluable and will have a meaningful impact on our students, faculty, staff, researchers, and the ongoing development of our campus infrastructure. I’d like to applaud and personally thank our alumni, friends, foundation and corporate partners for their investment in Acadia. Together you have helped Acadia not only meet but significantly exceed the most ambitious fundraising goal in its history, and because of this success you have all made us better, and your gifts will bring tremendous and lasting benefits to our students.” Campaign Chair Nancy McCain (’82) echoed Ricketts’ sentiments, expressing her personal gratitude to the thousands of people who supported the Campaign. She acknowledged the leadership and support of Dr. Ricketts and members of the Campaign Cabinet, a diverse and accomplished group of alumni from around the world who were dedicated to meeting and exceeding the Campaign goal. She also thanked Vice-President, Advancement Dr. Rod Morrison (now retired), Campaign Director, Executive Director of Philanthropy and current Vice-President, Advancement (Interim) Nancy Handrigan (’92), and the Acadia Advancement team.

"This was an outstanding team effort and a huge thank-you is very much in order to everyone who worked relentlessly to exceed our goal. I think we hit it out of the ballpark, and it’s a wonderful chapter in Acadia’s story."

- Nancy McCain ('82), Campaign Chair

“The Campaign was such a positive experience on all fronts,” McCain said. “We had an exceptional group of Acadia volunteers and staff. This was an outstanding team effort and a huge thank-you is very much in order to everyone who worked relentlessly to exceed our goal. I think we hit it out of the ballpark, and it’s a wonderful chapter in Acadia’s story.” Students, faculty, staff and Acadia’s campus will all benefit from the Campaign, Morrison said. “Its success represents an important margin of opportunity for Acadia, enabling us to accomplish things that are beyond the scope of our usual operations. Some of these are quite visible -- the renovation of our science facilities, for example, or the transformation of Patterson Hall into the home of the Manning School of Business -- while others are less conspicuous but equally impactful, such as millions of dollars for new student awards and support for teaching, research and academic programs.” Handrigan, a seasoned fundraising professional with experience in health care and the private and public education sectors, was appointed to her new role in February and took office on March 1, 2021. After receiving her BMus at Acadia, she earned an MA in Music Criticism at McMaster University and continued her path in the arts as General Manager of the Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus and the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra. She developed her skills in alumni relations and fundraising at McMaster, followed by a position in major gifts and gift planning at Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital Foundation in Burlington, Ontario. Before joining Acadia, she served as Executive Director, Philanthropy, at Appleby College in Oakville, Ontario. Handrigan returned to Acadia in 2013 to serve as its Executive Director, Philanthropy. She added Campaign Director to her duties in 2017 as the University prepared to launch Campaign for Acadia. “What these gifts share,” she adds, “is enormous influence on Acadia’s long-term sustainability and the enhancement of the student experience. I look forward to building on the many achievements of my remarkable predecessor, who served the University ably and capably from 2012 until his retirement. He was the architect of our successful campaign and provided steady and prudent leadership as we reached and exceeded the goal and navigated our way through a global pandemic. “I am honoured to follow in his footsteps and look forward to extolling Acadia’s excellent reputation to faculty, staff, students, alumni and our many friends, attracting and stewarding philanthropic support to sustain Acadia now and in the future.”

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