Recent Fundraising

Date: November 13, 2002

Dear Colleagues:

A week ago last Tuesday, many of you may have seen a front-page article in the New York Times ("Boom's End Is Felt Even at Wealthy Colleges") chronicling the impact of the slowdown in the economy on a number of our peer institutions. The decline in the stock market has hit many universities hard. Endowment values have fallen, and those schools that are heavily dependent on their endowment to support their operating budget are being forced to make substantial cuts in faculty and staff. The recession also is putting pressure on financial aid budgets as more students are requesting aid. At the same time, the recession is making it harder for many colleges and universities to raise money. Simply put, these are tough times for all of us.

While Tufts is certainly not immune from larger economic pressures, I am pleased to report that we are doing better than most. Although our endowment has fallen a bit from its peak, the decline has been modest relative to the market as a whole. Unlike many of our peer institutions, we did not take on large unfunded capital projects during the boom years. And one of the virtues of having a modest endowment is that fluctuations in value have only a modest impact on our operating budget. (University presidents are taught to always look at the glass as being half full.) While we may have to do a bit of belt tightening in the year ahead, we should be able to avoid the draconian cuts that other schools are experiencing.

I'm pleased to report that notwithstanding this difficult fundraising environment, Tufts continues to do quite well raising resources to support important university initiatives. As you know, we completed our successful capital campaign, totaling $609 million, over the summer. And in a matter of just 10 days leading up to our recent trustees' weekend, we received more than $10 million in new commitments from a variety of donors.

The largest of these pledges will greatly expand financial aid for underrepresented undergraduate minority students. These new commitments include a $5 million challenge grant from Dan (A81) and Karen (A83) Pritzker. The grant (which comes from their family foundation, the Jay Pritzker Foundation, will match new gifts for the same purpose on a dollar for dollar basis over the next five years. The Pritzker challenge immediately inspired two gifts that met the challenge nearly half-way. Trustee Kathryn Cassell Chenault (J77) immediately responded with a pledge of $1.1 million to provide up to 10 African American students annually with financial aid. In addition, an anonymous donor pledged another $1 million against the Pritzker challenge.

Trustee Edward Budd (A55) pledged a $1.5 million challenge grant to stimulate the creation of a $10-million endowment fund for the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

Glen K. Lau, M.D. (M73) pledged $1 million to support endowed scholarship funds for high-achieving medical students.

An anonymous donor pledged $1 million honoring the career and service to Tufts of Tom Murnane (A58, D62, D68), senior vice president. Dr. Murnane asked that this gift be applied to the proposed new music building, bringing to near completion the first phase of the $12-million fundraising program for this new facility.

Lockheed-Martin pledged $500,000, thanks to the leadership of engineering overseer Robert Coutts (E72), to support the Engineering School's K-12 Distance Learning Program. This is a pioneering project that will enhance schools' abilities to improve students' technical competence and encourage them to pursue careers in science and engineering.

And a corporate sponsor has pledged nearly $400,000 to the School of Engineering for a program integrating algebra and engineering in sixth through eighth-grade classrooms in Massachusetts.

We should all be proud that others are willing to invest in Tufts even during these difficult times. Each of these gifts represents an endorsement of the terrific work done by our students, faculty, and staff. To all of you who work to make Tufts the special place that it is, I thank you.