Atlanta - When the totals were in, Spelman College had not only met its "mission impossible" goal of raising $81 million, it had outdone itself -- amassing a record $113.3 million.

"Today marks the end of the most successful capital campaign of any historically Black college and the beginning of a new era of African-American philanthropy," beamed Spelman College President Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole. But all the counting is not done yet.

Elated Spelman officials say that it will be difficult to calculate the collateral benefits of the college's "Initiatives for the 90s" in terms of lessons learned, bridges crossed, and visions inspired. College Fund/UNCF President Bill Gray, on hand for the campaign's spirited wrap-up, agreed.

"There is a new reality that you have shared with the rest of the academic community -- and that is: You can do it if you work awfully hard," said Gray. "And you can do it working with corporate America, with people of goodwill and foundations. And you can do it by stimulating philanthropy within [the African-American] community. That is going to be more and more important in the days to come."

Indeed, Spelman officials say the campaign's success at tapping the African-American community, especially Spelman alumnae and students, was perhaps the campaign's crowning achievement. African-Americans contributed more than $25 million. The $113.3 million is the most money raised by a historically Black college and for any liberal arts college with fewer than 8,000 students. It also helped push Spelman's endowment to more than $138 million -- second only to Howard University. "The money was important," admitted Billie Sue Schulze, Spelman's vice president for institutional advancement, "but it wasn't the driving force of the campaign. This campaign was really about positioning Spelman for the future."