Annual Giving Rate at Princeton Tanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Yale, not Princeton. So did my husband. We used to give a small amount every year and we both had a very good experience at Yale. We don't bother anymore. I don't know if our kids will have any interest in going to Yale or have the credentials (they are still young) but the fact that Yale seems willing to move away from caring about family connections and is constantly crowing about how many first gen applicants they accept, makes me not care as much about sending them money. I am sure that those first gen applicants are terrific and deserve to be at Yale, but I don't like that they are holding my accomplishments against my kids. My parents worked really hard to become the first in their families to go to state colleges in the 1960s. My parents' hard work is something to be proud of and that I'm glad was not held against me when I applied to Yale. I was truly middle class, so not low income, and my parents went to college, so not first gen. That is not the same thing as being a wealthy kid from generations of college graduates. This new emphasis on FGLI is a blunt instrument.

They’re literally just treating your kids like every other applicant. People used to want merit.

You mean like when we had affirmative action?

Or now when we have fgli?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So let me get this straight. Princeton has been and remains a top university with huge endowment and fundraising, elite by every measure. But you are unhappy that it is too diverse. And the best you could come up with to claim it is declining is that the annual fund participation rate went from very high to still high?

Don't be an ass.

What bothers me is the prospect that recent graduates and current students may be having a more stressful and less enjoyable experience there.

I'm happy if it's more diverse if that's accompanied by continued satisfaction among students when it comes to their academic and social experience. If it's not, that calls for some reflection on the part of university officials as to whether they are admitting the right kids and/or enabling the kids they are admitting to have a positive experience.

The decline in alumni giving is quite steep in recent years and apparently at an 80-year low.

What’s the connection between these two ideas? Do black people stress you out or something?

There are hardly any Black kids there. It's the Asians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DH quit giving a few years ago. He used to give annually, but the far left control of academia got to be too much for him as a moderate.

He mentioned yesterday that Annual Giving is way down and laughed. FAFO.

It's this!
I went to Occidental College - It went liberal after I left, after decades of strong leadership, Oxy had a weak black president, the faculty gained control over the President and the board, which resulted in some catastrophic financial deicsions, then came a series of poor presidents who couldn't control the lefty faculty, and now the institution is super woke - I haven't givena penny in two decades NOR have my alumni friends (of all political stripes) from those years. Everyone is disgusted at what has happened to our once-upon-a-time "Princeton of the West", which is what Oxy called itself.
My DW went to Carleton College - crazy woke - she doesn't give
My DS went to George Mason, which was hugely DEI while he was there; he lost substantial scholarship opportunities because of it, and now GMU is doing stupid things with SJP. My son doesn't give and never will.
My DD went to UVA and doesn't give because Andrus G. Ashoo, the director of the Office of Citizen Scholar Development, didn't think she had what it takes to be supported by his office for a major scholarship (uh, like not URM, first generation, etc.). So she did it on her own - went to Oxford for an MPhil; then Oxford offered her a full Scholarship for the DPhil, and she has been accepted by Harvard Law. I doubt she will ever give money to UVA because of how Ashoo treated her.

My message to college presidents is: actions have consequences. Your institutional leadership has failed all of us, your students, your alumni.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH quit giving a few years ago. He used to give annually, but the far left control of academia got to be too much for him as a moderate.

He mentioned yesterday that Annual Giving is way down and laughed. FAFO.

It's this!
I went to Occidental College - It went liberal after I left, after decades of strong leadership, Oxy had a weak black president, the faculty gained control over the President and the board, which resulted in some catastrophic financial deicsions, then came a series of poor presidents who couldn't control the lefty faculty, and now the institution is super woke - I haven't givena penny in two decades NOR have my alumni friends (of all political stripes) from those years. Everyone is disgusted at what has happened to our once-upon-a-time "Princeton of the West", which is what Oxy called itself.
My DW went to Carleton College - crazy woke - she doesn't give
My DS went to George Mason, which was hugely DEI while he was there; he lost substantial scholarship opportunities because of it, and now GMU is doing stupid things with SJP. My son doesn't give and never will.
My DD went to UVA and doesn't give because Andrus G. Ashoo, the director of the Office of Citizen Scholar Development, didn't think she had what it takes to be supported by his office for a major scholarship (uh, like not URM, first generation, etc.). So she did it on her own - went to Oxford for an MPhil; then Oxford offered her a full Scholarship for the DPhil, and she has been accepted by Harvard Law. I doubt she will ever give money to UVA because of how Ashoo treated her.

My message to college presidents is: actions have consequences. Your institutional leadership has failed all of us, your students, your alumni.

How to say you are MAGA without saying you are MAGA. Step away from the Fox Propaganda Network. You are an embarrassment to your fine alma mater. You lost me at the start when you felt it was necessary to identify the race of the president of Occidental.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think sensibilities have changed.

If you want to use your money to do good, a donation to an alma mater with billions is the last place you'd send it.

I would regard the 40 percent who are still donating to Princeton as people who are trying to game things for their offspring. A donation to Princeton is not the same as trying to end starvation or wars or helping orphans or assisting on any number of issues.

Princeton will do fine without your contribution. But those dollars can have a lot of impact elsewhere.

.


[eye roll] Do you see all the money spent Calf. to end homelessness?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So let me get this straight. Princeton has been and remains a top university with huge endowment and fundraising, elite by every measure. But you are unhappy that it is too diverse. And the best you could come up with to claim it is declining is that the annual fund participation rate went from very high to still high?

Don't be an ass.

What bothers me is the prospect that recent graduates and current students may be having a more stressful and less enjoyable experience there.

I'm happy if it's more diverse if that's accompanied by continued satisfaction among students when it comes to their academic and social experience. If it's not, that calls for some reflection on the part of university officials as to whether they are admitting the right kids and/or enabling the kids they are admitting to have a positive experience.

The decline in alumni giving is quite steep in recent years and apparently at an 80-year low.

What’s the connection between these two ideas? Do black people stress you out or something?

I think OP has an agenda but I’ll bite and say that I could imagine that data might show that students are enjoying college less these days and finding it more stressful, not just Princeton but all colleges, and the difficult admissions process self selects for very intense people at the very selective schools. I think people are viewing college as more of a transactional kind of thing in many cases.

In any event, I went to a different Ivy in the 90s and have never given a dime. I had a good experience at the school and it served me well but I guess I always thought my charitable giving was providing more bang for the buck elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Woke has financial consequences agree with other posters and liberals don’t give with the same intensity. Oberlin, Brown, Wesleyan, and Columbia never had high alumni giving rates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH quit giving a few years ago. He used to give annually, but the far left control of academia got to be too much for him as a moderate.

He mentioned yesterday that Annual Giving is way down and laughed. FAFO.

It's this!
I went to Occidental College - It went liberal after I left, after decades of strong leadership, Oxy had a weak black president, the faculty gained control over the President and the board, which resulted in some catastrophic financial deicsions, then came a series of poor presidents who couldn't control the lefty faculty, and now the institution is super woke - I haven't givena penny in two decades NOR have my alumni friends (of all political stripes) from those years. Everyone is disgusted at what has happened to our once-upon-a-time "Princeton of the West", which is what Oxy called itself.
My DW went to Carleton College - crazy woke - she doesn't give
My DS went to George Mason, which was hugely DEI while he was there; he lost substantial scholarship opportunities because of it, and now GMU is doing stupid things with SJP. My son doesn't give and never will.
My DD went to UVA and doesn't give because Andrus G. Ashoo, the director of the Office of Citizen Scholar Development, didn't think she had what it takes to be supported by his office for a major scholarship (uh, like not URM, first generation, etc.). So she did it on her own - went to Oxford for an MPhil; then Oxford offered her a full Scholarship for the DPhil, and she has been accepted by Harvard Law. I doubt she will ever give money to UVA because of how Ashoo treated her.

My message to college presidents is: actions have consequences. Your institutional leadership has failed all of us, your students, your alumni.

Alumni giving rate at Carleton is actually one of the highest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would guess it's related to perceived reduced odds of legacy admissions, but I'm also interested in whether it's part of a larger trend of less giving to colleges.

Whatever the explanation, I am extremely skeptical that it is about politics in any way.

DP - I agree. I always roll my eyes at the obvious political (in one direction) agenda. In my case I never really gave much to my alma because they don’t really need my $100 donation and the chance of my kids getting in and me being able to comfortably afford close to 160K per year to put two kids through college full pay is not on my bingo card period.

In addition, when the tax code changed back in 2016 that limited deductions and I both starting paying more taxes and could no longer could itemize, I limited the list of charitable deductions to just a handful of places that I really feel passionate about that had some connection to my kids - either they volunteered there and had a good experience or the organization offered such an amazing activity that is kept to a low/no cost for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So let me get this straight. Princeton has been and remains a top university with huge endowment and fundraising, elite by every measure. But you are unhappy that it is too diverse. And the best you could come up with to claim it is declining is that the annual fund participation rate went from very high to still high?

Don't be an ass.

What bothers me is the prospect that recent graduates and current students may be having a more stressful and less enjoyable experience there.

I'm happy if it's more diverse if that's accompanied by continued satisfaction among students when it comes to their academic and social experience. If it's not, that calls for some reflection on the part of university officials as to whether they are admitting the right kids and/or enabling the kids they are admitting to have a positive experience.

The decline in alumni giving is quite steep in recent years and apparently at an 80-year low.

What’s the connection between these two ideas? Do black people stress you out or something?

There are hardly any Black kids there. It's the Asians.

There are tons of black students at Princeton. That's not an issue at all.

[Anonymous]

“It could also be cultural. Grads who come from low income families or from cultures without a sense of philanthropy may be less inclined to give. And there are a lot more of those students now at Princeton than when it was a a WASP bastion.” Conversely, it could be cultural in that the WASP bastion grads had multigenerational wealth and tapping the trust funds were a much easier inclination.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH quit giving a few years ago. He used to give annually, but the far left control of academia got to be too much for him as a moderate.

He mentioned yesterday that Annual Giving is way down and laughed. FAFO.

It's this!
I went to Occidental College - It went liberal after I left, after decades of strong leadership, Oxy had a weak black president, the faculty gained control over the President and the board, which resulted in some catastrophic financial deicsions, then came a series of poor presidents who couldn't control the lefty faculty, and now the institution is super woke - I haven't givena penny in two decades NOR have my alumni friends (of all political stripes) from those years. Everyone is disgusted at what has happened to our once-upon-a-time "Princeton of the West", which is what Oxy called itself.
My DW went to Carleton College - crazy woke - she doesn't give
My DS went to George Mason, which was hugely DEI while he was there; he lost substantial scholarship opportunities because of it, and now GMU is doing stupid things with SJP. My son doesn't give and never will.
My DD went to UVA and doesn't give because Andrus G. Ashoo, the director of the Office of Citizen Scholar Development, didn't think she had what it takes to be supported by his office for a major scholarship (uh, like not URM, first generation, etc.). So she did it on her own - went to Oxford for an MPhil; then Oxford offered her a full Scholarship for the DPhil, and she has been accepted by Harvard Law. I doubt she will ever give money to UVA because of how Ashoo treated her.

My message to college presidents is: actions have consequences. Your institutional leadership has failed all of us, your students, your alumni.

Sounds like despite all your crying and grievances everything turned out just fine for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH quit giving a few years ago. He used to give annually, but the far left control of academia got to be too much for him as a moderate.

He mentioned yesterday that Annual Giving is way down and laughed. FAFO.

It's this!
I went to Occidental College - It went liberal after I left, after decades of strong leadership, Oxy had a weak black president, the faculty gained control over the President and the board, which resulted in some catastrophic financial deicsions, then came a series of poor presidents who couldn't control the lefty faculty, and now the institution is super woke - I haven't givena penny in two decades NOR have my alumni friends (of all political stripes) from those years. Everyone is disgusted at what has happened to our once-upon-a-time "Princeton of the West", which is what Oxy called itself.
My DW went to Carleton College - crazy woke - she doesn't give
My DS went to George Mason, which was hugely DEI while he was there; he lost substantial scholarship opportunities because of it, and now GMU is doing stupid things with SJP. My son doesn't give and never will.
My DD went to UVA and doesn't give because Andrus G. Ashoo, the director of the Office of Citizen Scholar Development, didn't think she had what it takes to be supported by his office for a major scholarship (uh, like not URM, first generation, etc.). So she did it on her own - went to Oxford for an MPhil; then Oxford offered her a full Scholarship for the DPhil, and she has been accepted by Harvard Law. I doubt she will ever give money to UVA because of how Ashoo treated her.

My message to college presidents is: actions have consequences. Your institutional leadership has failed all of us, your students, your alumni.

Harry Elam was in the post for 4 years. He literally earned $250mil for the institution and effectively transitioned it in and out of COVID. How in the world you think he’s weak is beyond me.

[Anonymous]

For many, it's not about helping others or their Alma mater. It's about them and them only making it big. So they will fake a nonprofit but not give a dime to the elite colleges they went to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH quit giving a few years ago. He used to give annually, but the far left control of academia got to be too much for him as a moderate.

He mentioned yesterday that Annual Giving is way down and laughed. FAFO.

It's this!
I went to Occidental College - It went liberal after I left, after decades of strong leadership, Oxy had a weak black president, the faculty gained control over the President and the board, which resulted in some catastrophic financial deicsions, then came a series of poor presidents who couldn't control the lefty faculty, and now the institution is super woke - I haven't givena penny in two decades NOR have my alumni friends (of all political stripes) from those years. Everyone is disgusted at what has happened to our once-upon-a-time "Princeton of the West", which is what Oxy called itself.
My DW went to Carleton College - crazy woke - she doesn't give
My DS went to George Mason, which was hugely DEI while he was there; he lost substantial scholarship opportunities because of it, and now GMU is doing stupid things with SJP. My son doesn't give and never will.
My DD went to UVA and doesn't give because Andrus G. Ashoo, the director of the Office of Citizen Scholar Development, didn't think she had what it takes to be supported by his office for a major scholarship (uh, like not URM, first generation, etc.). So she did it on her own - went to Oxford for an MPhil; then Oxford offered her a full Scholarship for the DPhil, and she has been accepted by Harvard Law. I doubt she will ever give money to UVA because of how Ashoo treated her.

My message to college presidents is: actions have consequences. Your institutional leadership has failed all of us, your students, your alumni.

Alumni giving rate at Carleton is actually one of the highest.

It’s much lower than it used to be.