To give or not to give

Princeton is very proud of its unmatched rate of alumni giving. This statistic is, year by year, one of the many numbers that keeps us glued to the top of the U.S. News and World Report rankings and continually imbues the University with a strong sense of solidarity and collegial pride — the idea being that if people are always giving back, they clearly loved their time at Princeton. As I leave next year to embark on a career, I will invariably receive a letter urging me to give generously to my alma mater. It is likely though, that for the next few years my ability to give will be hindered by my starting salary, and I can only see myself giving a max of about $500 a year. With a $9.9 billion endowment, will my pitiful donation serve any productive role for the University? Wouldn't this money be better spent elsewhere?

Ben Stein, the frumpy actor who bored us to death as Ferris Bueller's teacher in 1986, recently wrote a column for The New York Times called 'Everybody's business' that questions the benefit of alumni giving to big universities like Harvard, Yale and Princeton. As a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School, he raises questions about the budgeting of these universities' burgeoning endowments and closes by asking if in fact it is worthwhile, as a middle-income alumnus, to give to these colossal funds. In discussing the private equity deals that only large funds and university endowments can participate in, Stein argues that unless you are incredibly wealthy, any contribution you make will simply be irrelevant. As he writes, "Yale has such a wildly successful endowment and makes so very much money from it that the sums dwarf what it is possible for us as alumni to give, unless we are fantastically rich."

Stein argues that since his contribution to Yale would be trivial compared with its investment return, "the same donations could be so much more meaningful to smaller nonprofit groups — like ones that help veterans or lost dogs and cats." The examples he uses are those of small charities for which $10,000 is a huge contribution to the operation. At Yale, he argues, that sum of money would be meaningless and would not provide the same substantial benefits that the gift to a charity would. As he writes, "My resources are very far from limitless, so why not give where it makes a difference?"

The article essentially asks every future University graduate: What do we owe our Alma Mater? Should we feel obligated to give back to Princeton even if our individual contribution will do little on its own to support the University? Stein raises a good point for economic rationality, but I still couldn't disagree more with his philosophy. The mentality that he promotes, which would require only the rich to give, would be detrimental to a university in the long run and, if applied broadly, would dramatically reduce alumni giving overall. The notion of alumni giving goes beyond economic rationality and rests more on the grounds of loyalty and pride for the institution. If the average Princeton alum stopped showing their support for Princeton because they thought their donation would be meaningless, the University would lose something greater than just money.

My friends and I were recently talking about whether or not we would give back to Princeton. We have all loved our time here and are convinced that we could not have been happier at any other university. We believe our courses, professors and quality of life are unrivaled by any other school. That being said, regardless of the economic irrationality of tossing pennies into our billion-dollar endowment well, a contribution represents more than just a financial dividend.

A contribution is a sign of gratitude, pride and faith in the future of the University; Princeton will live on for generations on the strength of its reputation, faculty and resources, but it can only do so if the alumni collectively support its existence. If you want to pull a David Duchovny and sprint from the FitzRandolph gates on graduation day that's fine. But if you loved your time here, are grateful for the education you received, and hope that Princeton maintains its position at the acme of Academia, then you should show your support regardless of the size of your contribution. Through the devotion of its alumni Princeton will live on for generations not only as an academic powerhouse, but also as a school that provokes a loyalty that defies even economics. Chris Berger is a history major from New York City. He can be reached at cberger@princeton.edu.