Have to say that this from current super hot comic John Mulaney’s ‘Kid Gorgeous’ special (on Netflix) expressed exactly what I think of alumni donations:
" I have friends I went to college with who say, “Aw, you should donate. Be a good alumnus.” And they wear shirts that say “School.” It’s like, look, if you’re an adult still giving money to your college, college is a $120,000 hooker and you are an idiot who fell in love with her. She’s not gonna do anything else for you. It’s done. In their letter, they were like, “Hey, it’s been awhile since you’ve given us money.” I was like, “Hey, it’s been awhile since you’ve housed and taught me.” I thought our transaction was over. I gave you $120,000 and you gave me a weird cinder-block room… and the first real heartbreak of my life…"
LOL. I do like John Mulaney – hope to watch his new special this weekend.
That’s bad news for Mulaney’s kids I guess.
Mulaney himself is a Georgetown grad and his Gtown admission presumably was helped by the legacy preference and Gtown donations provided by his two Hoya parents.
And the $120k is really $280k.
Probably 120K in his day though
So our instate university doesn’t appreciate my small $25 or $50 donation? Small donations add up. John Mulaney created Stefon with Bill Hader so I’ll look for his show.
I watched that last night. Good bit.
I think my undergrad college puts the alumni donations to good work. I’m at a stage when they can pretty much count on a minimum of $1K from me every year. I also donate to other colleges: the two where my kids went, and the one I worked for for many years, as well as the university where my wife and I met. I think all these colleges benefit from the money – and actually use it to improve facilities and programming. I’m happy to give up a little bit.
“That’s bad news for Mulaney’s kids I guess.”
People change their minds, but Mulaney has said he and his wife don’t plan to have kids
Most people I know who receive large amounts of financial aid (including myself) have a different view. But if you are full pay, I agree.
Also, the better the college is now, the better the reputation it has for you.
What gets me is when colleges ask parents for donations WHILE THEIR KIDS ARE ATTENDING
Presumably Mulaney’s parents, not Mulaney himself, paid the $120k for Gtown.
He must not have learned anything at Jesuit Gtown – paying it forward is a “men for others” thing to do.
@northwesty I would not necessarily assume that what he says in a standup routine is the same as what he does in real life.
After I do a full pay for my kid at Stanford, I will need the rest of money to travel and enjoy my life. My kid can donate to them if he makes it big. I donated my full pay kid to Stanford for 4 years; that’s enough in my books.
I used to donate regularly to my alma mater. I had received a 1/2 tuition scholarship and felt like I was paying it forward a bit. I always designated that my donation went to funding undergraduate scholarships.
And then Kiddo #1 took an interest in the school. Found out they have a horrible reputation for gapping. The NPC showed she would be gapped about $20,000. We were essentially going to be full pay. Between that and the threads of heartbreak here on CC from admitted students that couldn’t afford it, I stopped giving. They are building new facilities left and right, forming corporate partners and basically investing in everything except making sure students can afford to attend.
I will never give to them again.
I went to an elite private college. My son applied and didn’t get in. They are doing a big fundraising push right now and I have been getting emails daily. Actually got a fundraising call the other day. I told the poor kid (a student) that I was not interested in donating because my son didn’t get in! No hard feelings I said, just need to concentrate on paying for the school he actually is attending! Kind of annoyed at my Alma Mater.
It was so amazing… I work at a financial aid services company and it was all so relatable and on point. If you don’t have time to watch the whole special, I spent like a million years making his jokes into GIFs here: https://blog.withfrank.org/john-mulaney-college-donation-jokes/
I donate a small amount to my alma mater – I was full pay, the school is exceedingly well funded, and knew my kids were not destined to go there.
H went to ND and guess what – you have to donate to get alumni football tickets!!. What a racket!! I got hold of ND’s financial statements at work years ago and showed them to my H – his comment was “I think they should be sending me a check every year.”
I don’t donate to my kid’s colleges. Both had really wonderful experiences but H and I already paid a ton to each college. Any future donations will be up to the kids as alumni of the schools (and they both do donate a little bit even this early in their adult lives).
Saw the John Mulaney special last night on Netflix and liked it.
I used to give a little to my university, but as I got closer to launching our first into the big river in search of a college I stopped sending them money. The last time they called I explained that I was saving our money for own own student’s tuition. But more significantly for them, we decided we wouldn’t be donating until the school made some substantial changes to their tuition model. There’s no way we could afford that school these days, and no matter how much people donate the costs seemed to go up right along side a lot of new buildings. They have plenty of money and plenty of donors but the mission is no longer to serve who I am (and was). When they choose to take on affordability I’ll start sending checks again.
My alma mater is a big public uni that doesn’t apply legacy consideration to admissions decisions. Nonetheless, charmed by a recent visit with the development director, I pledged an arm a leg over the next five years. This is on top of the princely sum I’m paying in OOS tuition for my daughter who is currently attending. Yes, I’m a sucker for good causes.
Very funny and I totally relate as my EMPLOYER asks for Annual Fund donations to the University. Hello? You pay me, that’s how this arrangement works.
That said, I do give some to be counted in the participation numbers. And we as a family give to the scholarship funds for…let me see… 8(!) different schools.