Faculty members revealed at the Family Picnic that the community donated more than $26.1 million to the Rising to the Challenge Campaign between April 2014 and Oct. 12.

The fundraiser’s revenue will contribute to the development of the Events Center on the Upper School campus, which will replace Rosenthal Field. The new building will contain an indoor gymnasium for athletics and a theater for the performing arts.

Jeff and Marieke Rothschild initiated the Rising to the Challenge campaign in April 2014, pledging to match up to $10 million in donations to the Capital Campaign until Oct. 12.

The Annual Giving fund required donors to pledge repeated donations for up to three years, and the Capital Campaign required donors to commit at least one donation to the Upper School during the next three years.

These funds would then be matched by the Rothschilds. Collectively, the money would contribute directly towards the creation of the new Events Center.

The Capital Campaign raised $7.4 million unmatched, and the Annual Giving fund garnered $3.7 million pledged over the next three years.

Executive Director of Advancement Joe Rosenthal shared how he, the rest of the faculty and the school board of directors allocated Annual Giving funds.

“We used $2.6 million [of the $3.7 million from Annual Giving] to get to [$10 million] to ensure that we got the Rothschild match,” Rosenthal said. “We have an extra $1.1 million that goes to what’s called the groundbreaking fund, which gets added to the Rothschild fund.”

Rosenthal explained that seed funders donated $5 million prior to the matching campaign initiated by the Rothschild family, resulting in the final announced donation of $25.4 million at the end of the matching campaign. Since then, the Advancement department has calculated an additional $700,000 contributed during the Harvest Festival, with 181 pledges still uncounted.

For performing arts teacher Jeffrey Draper, the prospect of a state-of-the-art theater on campus means an increase in opportunities for performing arts students.

“We have lacked facilities to let us shine in the way we could I think, but the work we do is always really strong,” he said. “I’m excited by the potential of what [the Events Center] means for the future.”

Basketball player and Performing Arts member Dhanush Madabusi (11) believes that the Events Center will provide significant benefit to school programs in the near future.

“Although [juniors and seniors] probably won’t be able to have the Events Center for ourselves, it’s something that the upcoming grades will enjoy,” Madabusi said. “For basketball, the gym will be more central to the campus, so I think we’ll have more school unity and a lot of fans will come and give a lot more support.”

Arnav Tandon (10), a water polo player who has also competed in Track and Field, considered the Rising to the Challenge campaign to be a fundraiser which solidified school unity.

“I think donating money to [the Rising to the Challenge campaign] benefits the whole school as a community,” Tandon said. “Most of the people have realized that [the Events Center] is something our school really needs, and so they worked together to make it happen and make the school a better place.”

The Annual Giving fund continues to accept annual donations to be matched by the Board of Trustees. The Capital Campaign fund will also continue to accept donations but will no longer be matched by the Rothschild family.

Rosenthal projected building costs to range between $32-35 million, adding that further fundraising would be required between now and next fall when construction is planned.

If development proceeds according to the ideal timeline, the administration predicts that the Events Center will be completed by the 2016-2017 school year. Check Harker Aquila for a final tally of all the pledges.

An abridged version of this piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on October 17, 2014.