Connecticut College
in the Community

Connecticut College has been an integral part of New London since 1911, when founders of the new college were looking across the state for a site to establish the campus. Delighted by a beautiful hilltop overlooking the city, the College's incorporators agreed to build the campus there if the city could raise $100,000 to prevail over rival offers. New Londoners rose to the challenge. Children raided piggy banks and parents solicited donations from neighbors. On Sunday, the gospel of education was preached in every church in town. The feverish campaign ultimately raised $134,824 in just 10 days.

Today, the College and the city continue to enjoy a strong and mutually beneficial relationship that contributes to the economy, improves the quality of life and deepens the College's educational excellence. Connecticut College recognizes New London's support, and strives to reciprocate, particularly in ways related to the College's educational mission. Every year, more than 600 Connecticut College students volunteer in local schools and other non-profits.

The College offers a wide range of cultural, educational and athletic programs open to the public for free or just a nominal charge. These include plays, lectures, book discussions, seminars, poetry readings, concerts, and dance recitals. As a founding member of the Community Coalition for Children, the College annually co-sponsors and hosts educational workshops for local parents, students and educators.

The 750-acre Connecticut College Arboretum is one of the most beautiful nature areas in the state. It serves as a park for the surrounding community, offering weekly tours of its plant collections from spring through fall, botanical lectures, landscaping symposia and an annual photography contest.

Working closely with the Arboretum, the College's Goodwin-Niering Center for Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies is a leader in local conservation efforts and research. Its students have researched stream restoration, invasive plants and bird nesting in and around New London, with results that directly benefit local habitats.

The Olin Observatory regularly welcomes the public for stargazing and educational events. During the winter, the College opens its ice rink for public skating at a nominal charge. Charles E. Shain Library, with almost 600,000 books and bound periodicals and many special collections, is open to the public year round. As of January 2006, 24 New London children were enrolled in preschool programs through the Colleges Children's Program. After all outside funding sources, the College donated an estimated $120,000 in services to New London children attending this program. The College's Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy and its Office of Volunteers for Community Service (OVCS) partner with local organizations to research and address community challenges.

The Jane Bredeson Scholarship funds up to half the cost of tuition for New London residents who are full-time students. On average there have been six Bredeson scholars on campus each semester over the past six years, a gift to New London valued at $125,925 annually. In addition, the New London Scholars Program, established by the trustees in 1986 on the College's 75th anniversary, allows two outstanding local high school students to take a course at the College at no cost.

Each year, more than 600 Connecticut College students do internships, coursework, work-study placements and volunteer placements with 70 local agencies and projects. After-school programs in New London have increased their capacity with the assistance of trained Connecticut College students. Students also have helped to design and build major community projects, including an inclusive Boundless Playground for children and families and a Discovery Pier on New London's Waterfront Park. They have worked with Community Partnerships' Healthy New London to create a health and history trail. Other CC students tutor children at seven schools, help with employment training at Centro de la Comunidad Inc., mentor boys and girls at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School, build houses with Habitat for Humanity, provide tours of the Arboretum, assist in local healthcare organizations, teach art to children, and work in community meal programs.

One particularly successful student program, Kids, Books and Athletics, aims to improve children's physical fitness while also developing their love of reading. Each week, teams of CC students, many of whom are athletes, lead physical fitness and reading activities for more than 300 pre-schoolers and elementary school children. Students have also led successful family events at two local schools to encourage a family approach to exercise and reading.

Student interns have worked on a variety of projects for such local groups as the Neighborhood Alliance, Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, Office of Development and Planning, New London Adult and Continuing Education, the New London Parks and Recreation Department, Special Olympics, Gemma Moran Labor Food Center, The Women's Center of Southeastern Connecticut and Save Ocean Beach. A team of students completed research and a strategic plan to develop a Kids Café, an entrepreneurial project designed to improve nutrition for teens. Another group of students worked with the New London Youth Organization to transform an old warehouse in New London into a teen center.

Students are supported in their work by the staff, faculty and budgets of the College's Office of Volunteers for Community Service and Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy. The relationship between the College and the city is central to the College's mission statement: "Connecticut College educates students to put the liberal arts into action as citizens in a global society."

Economic Impact

• Connecticut College is the third largest private employer in New London, with 806 employees and a payroll of $34.7 million. One-fourth of employees live in New London.
• The College spends more than $49.3 million a year on goods and services, with a direct and indirect economic impact of at least $107.6 million.
• Events on campus, such as the Connecticut Early Music Festival, the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association World Championships and the Connecticut Storytelling Festival, draw 70,000 visitors annually.
• The College donates free and reduced-price meeting space valued at more than $85,000 a year to local non-profits, including Alcoholics Anonymous, the Southeastern Connecticut Chinese School and New London High School.
• The College's 1,900 students spend an estimated $4.2 million per year in the local economy.
• For the year ending June 30, 2006, New London is scheduled to receive $2.06 million in payments from the state of Connecticut to compensate for the College's tax-exempt status. (See "Payments in Lieu of Taxes".)

Payments In Lieu of Taxes
As a private non-profit higher-education institution, Connecticut College is exempt from local property taxes under state law. The law is based on the premise that the education and services provided by the College are an important benefit to the public. With the exemption, the state acknowledges and supports the mission of the College. The exemption implicitly recognizes that if the College were to pay taxes, it would divert funds from its educational mission, ultimately hurting the public. The tax exemption also helps the College remain accessible to students of all income levels by maintaining its commitment to need-based financial aid.

Currently, the state of Connecticut reimburses New London for approximately 71 percent of the taxes that the College would pay if it were a for-profit business. The reimbursement is based on the theory that the social benefits of the College extend well beyond New London's borders and that therefore the financial costs should also be shared. Reimbursement is made through the Payment-In-Lieu-Of-Taxes Program, or PILOT, and through the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Fund. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006, the city was slated to receive a total of $2.06 million of the $2.87 million from which the College is exempt.

If the College were not here, some of the services it provides would have to be assumed by the City and paid for by local taxpayers. In addition, the College has an enormous economic impact on the city and region. For-profit businesses generate a similar impact, but the College contributes in many ways that a corporation of similar size never would or could.

Ulysses Hammond, Connecticut College vice president for Administration, was recently named Man of the Year by the State of Connecticut African-American Affairs Commission. Hammond was honored for his outstanding achievement and service to the African-American community. Hammond was nominated for the award by Tony Sheridan, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut. In his nomination letter, Sheridan noted that Hammond has been actively involved in a number of initiatives and organizations that focus on the advancement and development of the African-American community in eastern Connecticut. Perhaps his most important contribution is the founding of a tutoring and mentoring program for children in the New London Public Schools.

Last Modified: Friday, November 30, 2007 15:58