Future of Division III

[MCScots2013]

Of course admissions and the President's Office hate being the subject of this kind of article; however, I'd say it depends. The alumni base makes a huge difference. If there is a large untapped group of potential donor alums, ie. those who could but don't, then publicity could help.

Take two Virginia schools: Sweet Briar and U of R (Richmond). SBC by all accounts has worked a miracle in the last decade to stay open and U of R is one of the wealthiest schools in the nation with ~$3.5B in endowed funds. A far cry from nearly closing the doors a few generations ago.

Catawba in NC has gotten two $200M gifts in the last 3 years. Endowment has grown from $88M to $614M in the last 5 years. Crazy!

It takes as little as one generous person to make a game changer for these schools.

[IC798891]

Of course admissions and the President's Office hate being the subject of this kind of article;

It takes as little as one generous person to make a game changer for these schools.

Save-the-institution type donors already know more about the financial decisions of an institution than would ever be put in a news article about those financial decisions, way before that article even gets thought of, let alone written or published.

That's why capital campaigns typically don't get announced until you have *at least* 70% of that money in the bank already. If you're making major financial decisions, good or bad, your rich alumni are the first to know, and the general public are the last. If anything, the reason you make these types of moves is because of what those alumni have or haven't done.

Anyone finding out via this article? Rank and file alumni

*I say this AS a rank and file alumnus. My hundred bucks a year is not keeping the lights on

Again, that's not to say these institutions are doomed. Plenty have been pulled back. But this article is not what's turning the tide