Over the next four years, the College will attempt to raise $75 million to complete its $425 million Lives of Consequence capital campaign, which began last year. In other words, over the next four years, the College will attempt to raise $50 million less than the donation they received last week from just two donors.

“We hope and expect to raise at least the remaining $75 million from thousands of gifts, large and small, from Amherst alums, parents and friends,” said Lives of Consequence Campaign Co-Chair Brian Conway ’80, a member of the Board of Trustees.

Launched during last year’s Family Weekend, the capital campaign is a mission-driven fundraiser with explicit objectives. These include a renovation of Merrill Science Center, the continuation of loan-free financial aid and an increase in the size of the faculty.

After a year of dialed-down solicitations due to the tanked economy, the Advancement Office is kicking it into high gear with the $125 million donation now the centerpiece of its marketing of the campaign.

Already, “the gift has begun to inspire others about what they want to do for Amherst,” said the College’s Chief Advancement Officer Megan Morey, as her office has been flooded with comments from parents and alumni expressing appreciation for the gift and an increased pride toward the College.

In the week since President Tony Marx announced that two anonymous donors contributed $100 million and $25 million to the College, students too have responded with a mix of questions and requests. Whether at the dining hall or the dormitories, students have thought of numerous ways to put the money to use.

Yet, the gift was not unexpected and will not fundamentally change the College’s path out of the recession. Over the next five years, the gift will simply make its way into the endowment, being lumped together with the $1.3 billion that already constitutes the endowment. The Advisory Budgetary Committee assumed that by 2013, the Lives of Consequence campaign will add $425 million to the endowment, and the gift does not change that. Furthermore, according to Morey, the College had known that the gifts were a possibility for some time.

Other students have commented on the irony that the $25 million gift — the second largest donation in the history of the College — has seemingly been relegated to second-class status. What must that donor think? According to Morey, each donor knew what the other was doing. “They were mutually inspired by one another,” said Morey, “and I hope that translates to others.”