Rich Alumni Stiff Elite Alma Maters, Give to Needier Colleges

It's great to see that philanthropists are giving to where there's need in education -- including charter schools! -- rather than the least-needy "charities" on the planet (like my alma mater, Harvard), which are increasingly becoming bastions of a privileged elite.  Sure, a few of them announce noble programs like Harvard waiving tuition for students from low-income families, but here's the reality: at the 146 most selective colleges, 74% of students are from top-quartile-income households and only 9% are from the bottom half of all U.S. households!

Laurence Lee is the sort of alumnus that the  University of Chicago craves, with two degrees from the school and plenty of  money that he is looking to give away. But when Chicago solicits Mr. Lee for donations, he says he thinks to himself, "What do they need me for? What  difference can I make when they already have billions?"
 
Instead of contributing much to Chicago, where he  earned bachelor's and law degrees, Mr. Lee, who is retired, gave $6.6 million  to a school he never attended: Lake Forest College, a small liberal-arts  school located in the Chicago suburb where he lives. Its endowment is about  $75 million, just over 1% of University of Chicago's $6.1 billion. Mr. Lee  says he hasn't totaled the amount he has given to Chicago over the years but  describes it as "a modest annual gift for the hell of it."
 
"My money means a lot more to Lake Forest," he  says.
 
Mr. Lee is among a rising cohort of  philanthropists who are eschewing their richly endowed alma maters in favor of  schools with meager resources. Turned off by massive endowments at the nation's top schools, they seek to make a greater impact at less-wealthy institutions. They are probably also aware of a fringe benefit: getting your  name on a building is a cheaper proposition at schools not accustomed to  seven-figure donations.

----------------------------------

Rich Alumni Stiff Elite Alma Maters, Give to Needier Colleges
Princeton, Chicago Graduates Donate Millions to Lake Forest;
Bargain for Name on a Building
By ZACHARY M. SEWARD
August 28, 2007; Page B1
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118826200944010463.html

Laurence Lee is the sort of alumnus that the University of Chicago craves, with two degrees from the school and plenty of money that he is looking to give away. But when Chicago solicits Mr. Lee for donations, he says he thinks to himself, "What do they need me for? What difference can I make when they already have billions?"