Elite colleges are quietly reducing the level of donations that can gain admission as mega-donors close their checkbooks to the Ivy League because of antisemitism on campus.
Their long-standing practice of giving special consideration to the children and grandchildren of major donors has been hit hard by a growing backlash against college leaders’ failure to keep Jewish students safe.
Now, according to a college counselor, that $2 million check could be the new $20 million.
“If a millionaire has been doing $50 million or $100 million a year and now they’re retiring, colleges have to figure out how to fill that gap,” Command Education founder Christopher Rim told The Post.
“The only way to do that is to recruit a lower number of donors.”
Since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, many elite colleges have been accused of failing to deal with antisemitic demonstrations on campus and refusing to condemn the massacre.
Major donors have closed their checkbooks in protest of the college’s handling of campus unrest over the war in Israel. AFP via Getty Images Harvard University President Claudine Gay has been criticized for her handling of rising antisemitism on campus and will be questioned by House members on Tuesday. AP University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill will testify before congress this week. University of Pennsylvania
The situation is so extreme that Harvard University president Claudine Gay and University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill will be questioned by the Congressional Education and Workforce Committee on Tuesday.
Protesters on the UPenn campus were heard chanting “revolution Intifada” this weekend.
Keep up with the news on the Israel-Hamas war and the surge in global antisemitism with The Post’s Israel War Updates, delivered straight to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Harvard last week became the latest Ivy to be investigated by the Department of Education for civil rights violations under Title VI, joining UPenn, Columbia and Cornell in the dubious distinction.
Investigations into antisemitism have also caught The Cooper Union in New York City, Wellesley College in Massachusetts, the University of Tampa, Fla., and Lafayette College, Indiana.
On Saturday, protesters at the University of Pennsylvania reportedly chanted “Intifada revolution.” The ChayaRaichik/ X protests on campus have caused major donors to close their checkbooks, including at UPenn, where this is one of a string of anti-Israel gestures by militant students. fox29
The impact on donations was felt by Harvard, where former Victoria’s Secret CEO Les Wexner, whose foundation had given millions to Harvard for 34 years, severed ties with the university. Hedge funder Bill Ackman has repeatedly spoken out, along with $500m donor Ken Griffin.
At UPenn, Marc Rowan, a member of the Board of Trustees, publicly called on donors to stop giving until the president and chairman resigned, while Estée Lauder billionaire Ronald Lauder stopped his donations.
“People are pulling their commitments because of a lack of leadership,” Rim told The Post. “They used to donate $50-plus million to these schools, and now these schools, even though they have $35 or $40 billion in endowments, are desperate to make money.”
“The main focus of the university president is to raise funds. That’s their business. And they have to fill this gap one way or another.”
Marc Rowan, a member of the University of Pennsylvania Board of Trustees, has called on donors to close their checkbooks. AFP via Getty Images Estée Lauder billionaire Ronald Lauder stopped his donation at UPenn as well. Taidgh Barron/NY Post
It has long been known that donations to schools can be beneficial in the admissions process.
A 2019 analysis of Harvard admissions files by researchers at the National Bureau of Economic Research found that applicants on the “dean’s interest list” — often code for someone whose family donates to the school — had a 42.2% shot at being admitted between 2009 and 2014.
By comparison, the overall admission rate for those years hovered around 6% — meaning benefit list status translates into a sevenfold increase in odds.
“It’s an open secret that this is what you get because why else would someone donate hundreds of millions or even tens of millions of dollars to a school without wanting anything in return,” Rim said.
He said the dollar value required to make a splash has increased over the decades.
College consultant Christopher Rim projected that smaller donations might hold more sway. Command Education
Until recently, he said, the college position was, “$2 million won’t get you in. For the university, it is nothing. Maybe that could work 25 years ago, but in recent years add zero and maybe enough.”
“Trying to get into a top Ivy [until this fall]I would say, it takes more than $50 million to have influence in the entry process,” he added.
But, now that mega-donors are pulling back — many of whom have pledged to give tens of millions of dollars annually for years at a time — smaller-dollar donors may have more of a voice.
“There will be a new wave of people who are not necessarily affected [the Israeli conflict] or they just don’t care — who think this is an opportunity for them to have influence,” Rim said. “Families that are now donating lower amounts will be more influential.”
Pershing Square Capital CEO and Harvard alumnus Bill Ackman has been a vocal critic of the university’s response. Reuters
He predicts opportunists will rise up and start spending more than a few million hoping it makes a difference.
“That’s what my intuition and experience say,” he explained. “A 90% discount on the current quoted ‘rate’ could appeal to many of these families.”
Although he is often asked if it is worth donating, he says no, regardless of the recent discount: “My general recommendation is still not to donate to this school, even if the price tag is 90% cheaper.”
And, what’s more, Rim thinks the reduced prices will last.
“When the president or board chairman is either removed or resigns, I think a lot of these big donors will come back,” he said. “At the end of the day, the prestige of these Ivies is not going away.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
