@urbanslaughter . I makes no claims to know much about Middlebury, which is at least 50 years older than Bates. I said that Bates has a long association with the African American community, which it does. Bates was definitely the first college in New England to admit women. Bates also has its origins rooted in the fact that it was founded to provide higher education to more working class people than nearby Bowdoin. So, yes, traditionally these are all groups of people who earned less. As I said earlier, it’s about inclusion at Bates.
As for the endowment and alumni giving, I can tell the OP that the current president has raised $120 million for the endowment in the last four years. And this article is from 2015, so I don’t know how accurate it still is.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/03/college-most-alumni-donate_n_6409268.html
It’s not a debate about one being better than the other. Middlebury is a great school. The OP wanted some opinions, so I gave mine. Please feel free to give yours.