JP Conte’s $25 Million Gift Is Reshaping Colgate’s Campus Block by Block

A year after JP Conte committed $25 million to Colgate University, the West Campus initiative he helped anchor has moved from announcement to active construction along Broad Street in Hamilton, New York. The gift names the Social Center — to be called Conte House — at what the university describes as the most significant physical expansion in its history. Work is visibly underway.

Construction is active at 66 Broad Street, with renovations continuing at 70 Broad Street and across several Greek and theme houses. Two firms with existing Colgate ties were selected for the work. Robert A.M. Stern Architects, whose Bernstein Hall opened on campus in fall 2024, is designing the West Campus structures. Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, the Brooklyn-based studio behind Colgate’s Peter’s Glen, is handling site design. As Managing Partner of Lupine Crest Capital, Conte brings experience across multiple asset classes to long-horizon commitments of this scale.

North House and South House, two large residential buildings, attach directly to the Social Center, along with smaller seminar rooms and study spaces. A shared pathway called The Walk will connect the buildings across the new campus. A green space called The Park, built on an extension of Taylor Lake, anchors the design at the southern edge. When construction wraps, every senior will have the option of a single room; approximately half of each junior class will as well.

JP Conte’s contribution is part of a broader alumni push that reached $105 million total when the May 2025 announcement was made. That figure includes the largest single gift in Colgate history: $50 million from Peter Kellner ’65. Three additional $10 million gifts from Becky Hurley ’81 and Christopher Hurley ’81, Robert Fox ’59, and Stephen Sprague ’72 rounded out the campaign. His J-P Conte Family Foundation, established in 2017, channels philanthropic work toward education and related causes, consistent with a career built across private equity and long-term capital deployment.

A year after JP Conte committed $25 million to Colgate University, the West Campus initiative he helped anchor has moved from announcement to active construction along Broad Street in Hamilton, New York. The gift names the Social Center — to be called Conte House — at what the university describes as the most significant physical…