May I ask a few clarifying questions, because I am puzzled by some of your logic.
How much debt, pick a number would you consider “drowning in debt”? because market seems to have spoken as far as Chicago is concerned. Its long term bond rating has been downgraded. Compare it with the debt rating of other peer institutions.
The last part of this argument completely floored me. Why is Yale’s 1970 endowment even relevant here?
Yale is not competing in the marketplace for talent based on its 1970’s endowment value. It is competing in today’s marketplace with today’s endowment. And Chicago is slipping in this regard. Yes, compared to large number of schools $7.5 Billion seems like a huge number, but not in the neighborhood that Chicago plays in. We look like a poor cousin in our neck of the woods. Yale’s $3B endowment was ** relatively awesome ** in the 1970’s and its current endowment is ** relatively aswesome** today.
If Nondorf decides to dole out ultra generous financial aid to every student who walks in, he will be exasperating the financial problem. BTW do you believe or agree that Chicago is facing a tough financial problem operationally?
How long do you think Chicago can continue without making any changes? 5 years,10 years, 50 years? And in your mind, which one of those would constitute an “Existential threat”