Lafayette College’s recently approved strategic plan will benefit from a $5 million gift made by J.B. Reilly ‘83, a Lehigh Valley resident and member of the college’s Board of Trustees, and his wife Kathleen Reilly. The donation was announced in a campus-wide email on Tuesday.
“We think Lafayette is on an upward trajectory, and we’ve experienced it first hand,” J.B. Reilly said, highlighting his two children who graduated from Lafayette in 2016 and 2018.
J.B. Reilly, a real estate entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of City Center, has served as a trustee for 17 years. He and his wife are members of the college’s exclusive Société d’Honneur, which recognizes “exceptional lifetime generosity on the part of alumni, parents, and friends,” according to the college’s website.
“They love the college with their whole hearts,” college President Nicole Hurd said of the Reilly family. “This has been a place that’s been an engine of opportunity for them.”
Hurd said that the college and the Reillys are working out where the money will go towards the strategic plan, which was approved by the Board of Trustees and controversially rejected by the faculty in December. She mentioned that the third pillar of the strategic plan — which centers engagement with Easton and the greater Lehigh Valley — has been a part of initial discussions because of the Reillys’ ties to the area, though there are not currently any set plans for donation allocation. J.B. Reilly and his family first moved to the Lehigh Valley in 1971 when he was just 10 years old.
The donation is a part of the “initial phase of a campaign.” Hurd advertised an upcoming “Forward Together” informational session with Kim Verstandig, the interim vice president for advancement. The session, being held on March 13, will “break down the fundamental principles of fundraising and their role in driving successful philanthropy,” according to the Lafayette Today.
“It’s not just the trustees; it’s the entire community is now getting activated to support the college for the bicentennial and the campaign ahead,” Hurd said.
J.B. Reilly said the college is in the process of formulating the amount of money needed for the campaign.
J.B. Reilly’s donation occurred two years after Chip Bergh — a recently appointed trustee at Lafayette — donated just over $5 million to Lafayette to begin the Bergh Family Fellows Program. Bergh’s program focused on student internships and abroad opportunities, and Reilly said he also hoped to impact students through his donation.
“We’re just very excited to be able to support the college at this really critical time, about ready to celebrate the bicentennial,” he said.
Isabella Gaglione ’25 contributed reporting.
