Future of Division III

[Kuiper]

Carnegie Mellon, they of the $4.3B endowment, $2.5B in annual revenue, and $6.3B in assets (2025), get another $3B from a hedge-fund CEO, $2B of which is designated for a new campus in Miami, the rest for the CS department and "other unspecified projects on the main campus". 

So, is this the pathway to D3 expansion into the state of Florida? 

[Ron Boerger]

Carnegie Mellon, they of the $4.3B endowment, $2.5B in annual revenue, and $6.3B in assets (2025), get another $3B from a hedge-fund CEO, $2B of which is designated for a new campus in Miami, the rest for the CS department and "other unspecified projects on the main campus". 

So, is this the pathway to D3 expansion into the state of Florida? 

Nice thought, but this quote from the story makes athletics seem off the table:

Rather than academic majors, it will focus on what the university and Griffin described in a news release as "grand challenge areas," such as human health and biological discovery; national security and strategic capabilities; energy and climate resilience; and advanced manufacturing and industrial transformation.

[Kuiper]

Carnegie Mellon, they of the $4.3B endowment, $2.5B in annual revenue, and $6.3B in assets (2025), get another $3B from a hedge-fund CEO, $2B of which is designated for a new campus in Miami, the rest for the CS department and "other unspecified projects on the main campus". 

So, is this the pathway to D3 expansion into the state of Florida? 

Nice thought, but this quote from the story makes athletics seem off the table:

Rather than academic majors, it will focus on what the university and Griffin described in a news release as "grand challenge areas," such as human health and biological discovery; national security and strategic capabilities; energy and climate resilience; and advanced manufacturing and industrial transformation.

I was joking in my original post, but apparently, I'm not the only person to wonder if the new campus might have some athletics for the students on campus, which apparently will include undergrads (although the 3500 number included masters and PhD students).

Ryan Whitnable of the OACball show posted the following:

There are transformational gifts and then there is this.

Will be curious to see how this changes athletics. The details allude to the Pittsburgh campus receiving a major investment ($1B) but also ($2B) to create a new Miami campus with 3,500 undergrads eventually.

[Ron Boerger]

Thought it might have been 

$500M of the total is allocated for "unspecified projects on the main campus" and you would expect some of that to flow to athletics.

[WUPHF]

I imagine the talk in certain Hyde Park circles tonight is how did things go so badly that a former University of Chicago Board of Trustees member gave the money to a peer institution instead.

[CarollFan]

I imagine the talk in certain Hyde Park circles tonight is how did things go so badly that a former University of Chicago Board of Trustees member gave the money to a peer institution instead.

He is originally from Florida and bailed on Chicago in 2022 when he moved his company Citadel from Chicago to Florida.

[WUPHF]

He is originally from Florida and bailed on Chicago in 2022 when he moved his company Citadel from Chicago to Florida.

You're describing the conversation taking place in Evanston.

Ken Griffin was actually a Trustee of the University of Chicago.

Carnegie Mellon has the better computer science department, but otherwise, if geography matters, I do not see a connection to Pittsburgh.

[CarollFan]

He is originally from Florida and bailed on Chicago in 2022 when he moved his company Citadel from Chicago to Florida.

You're describing the conversation taking place in Evanston.

Ken Griffin was actually a Trustee of the University of Chicago.

Carnegie Mellon has the better computer science department, but otherwise, if geography matters, I do not see a connection to Pittsburgh.

I'm just pointing out things may not have gone bad with the University of Chicago, he left Chicago in general and like your saying he is stating Carnegie Mellon's computer science dept as one of the reasons for working with Carnegie Mellon.

[jknezek]

He is originally from Florida and bailed on Chicago in 2022 when he moved his company Citadel from Chicago to Florida.

You're describing the conversation taking place in Evanston.

Ken Griffin was actually a Trustee of the University of Chicago.

Carnegie Mellon has the better computer science department, but otherwise, if geography matters, I do not see a connection to Pittsburgh.

I'm just pointing out things may not have gone bad with the University of Chicago, he left Chicago in general and like your saying he is stating Carnegie Mellon's computer science dept as one of the reasons for working with Carnegie Mellon.

Just a guess, but U Chicago has some financial issues right now. Since a huge part of this is building new facilities in South Florida, a requirement for the money, that may not have been a project they wanted to tackle on top of what they have on their plate. CMU might have had an easier time agreeing to open/run a satellite campus halfway across the country. Schools have tried this before, both nationally and internationally, and it doesn't always work well. It takes a lot of dedication of resources, not just the money.

It could be he tried to get his alma mater involved, and they decided the project wasn't in their interests as he wanted it done. U Chicago might have said they wanted more like a 50/50 split on the money home campus vs satellite and CMU had more flexibility for the 2/3rds 1/3rd. Just a thought, as I have no knowledge other than what I've read.

Griffen is known as a shark, and I'm sure he negotiated the best deal he could get for the part that mattered most to him, the South Florida campus. I'd be surprised if CMU was the only school he approached, but they were probably the one that was willing to do it closest to his vision.

[CarollFan]

He is originally from Florida and bailed on Chicago in 2022 when he moved his company Citadel from Chicago to Florida.

You're describing the conversation taking place in Evanston.

Ken Griffin was actually a Trustee of the University of Chicago.

Carnegie Mellon has the better computer science department, but otherwise, if geography matters, I do not see a connection to Pittsburgh.

I'm just pointing out things may not have gone bad with the University of Chicago, he left Chicago in general and like your saying he is stating Carnegie Mellon's computer science dept as one of the reasons for working with Carnegie Mellon.

Just a guess, but U Chicago has some financial issues right now. Since a huge part of this is building new facilities in South Florida, a requirement for the money, that may not have been a project they wanted to tackle on top of what they have on their plate. CMU might have had an easier time agreeing to open/run a satellite campus halfway across the country. Schools have tried this before, both nationally and internationally, and it doesn't always work well. It takes a lot of dedication of resources, not just the money.

It could be he tried to get his alma mater involved, and they decided the project wasn't in their interests as he wanted it done. U Chicago might have said they wanted more like a 50/50 split on the money home campus vs satellite and CMU had more flexibility for the 2/3rds 1/3rd. Just a thought, as I have no knowledge other than what I've read.

Griffen is known as a shark, and I'm sure he negotiated the best deal he could get for the part that mattered most to him, the South Florida campus. I'd be surprised if CMU was the only school he approached, but they were probably the one that was willing to do it closest to his vision.

Good points. Just out of curiosity are there other D3 schools with satellite campuses in another state?

[jknezek]

He is originally from Florida and bailed on Chicago in 2022 when he moved his company Citadel from Chicago to Florida.

You're describing the conversation taking place in Evanston.

Ken Griffin was actually a Trustee of the University of Chicago.

Carnegie Mellon has the better computer science department, but otherwise, if geography matters, I do not see a connection to Pittsburgh.

I'm just pointing out things may not have gone bad with the University of Chicago, he left Chicago in general and like your saying he is stating Carnegie Mellon's computer science dept as one of the reasons for working with Carnegie Mellon.

Just a guess, but U Chicago has some financial issues right now. Since a huge part of this is building new facilities in South Florida, a requirement for the money, that may not have been a project they wanted to tackle on top of what they have on their plate. CMU might have had an easier time agreeing to open/run a satellite campus halfway across the country. Schools have tried this before, both nationally and internationally, and it doesn't always work well. It takes a lot of dedication of resources, not just the money.

It could be he tried to get his alma mater involved, and they decided the project wasn't in their interests as he wanted it done. U Chicago might have said they wanted more like a 50/50 split on the money home campus vs satellite and CMU had more flexibility for the 2/3rds 1/3rd. Just a thought, as I have no knowledge other than what I've read.

Griffen is known as a shark, and I'm sure he negotiated the best deal he could get for the part that mattered most to him, the South Florida campus. I'd be surprised if CMU was the only school he approached, but they were probably the one that was willing to do it closest to his vision.

Good points. Just out of curiosity are there other D3 schools with satellite campuses in another state?

Several. Ithaca has one in Los Angeles for some reason. NYU has or had centers in the Middle East and China, no idea if those are still open. RIT had/has some in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. CMU has one in Qatar. I feel like Hopkins has/had one in China.

Yes, they are mostly research institutions as this is their bag. Go where the researchers are if you can't bring them to you.

[WUPHF]

Just a guess, but U Chicago has some financial issues right now. Since a huge part of this is building new facilities in South Florida, a requirement for the money, that may not have been a project they wanted to tackle on top of what they have on their plate. CMU might have had an easier time agreeing to open/run a satellite campus halfway across the country. Schools have tried this before, both nationally and internationally, and it doesn't always work well. It takes a lot of dedication of resources, not just the money.

It could be he tried to get his alma mater involved, and they decided the project wasn't in their interests as he wanted it done. U Chicago might have said they wanted more like a 50/50 split on the money home campus vs satellite and CMU had more flexibility for the 2/3rds 1/3rd. Just a thought, as I have no knowledge other than what I've read.

Griffen is known as a shark, and I'm sure he negotiated the best deal he could get for the part that mattered most to him, the South Florida campus. I'd be surprised if CMU was the only school he approached, but they were probably the one that was willing to do it closest to his vision.

Unfortunately, we will never know, but I think there is a near-zero chance that if asked, the UChicago Chancellor would say that this was the best possible outcome given what Ken Griffin would have wanted from whomever was willing to accept his billions.  That was my only point.

[CarollFan]

Just a guess, but U Chicago has some financial issues right now. Since a huge part of this is building new facilities in South Florida, a requirement for the money, that may not have been a project they wanted to tackle on top of what they have on their plate. CMU might have had an easier time agreeing to open/run a satellite campus halfway across the country. Schools have tried this before, both nationally and internationally, and it doesn't always work well. It takes a lot of dedication of resources, not just the money.

It could be he tried to get his alma mater involved, and they decided the project wasn't in their interests as he wanted it done. U Chicago might have said they wanted more like a 50/50 split on the money home campus vs satellite and CMU had more flexibility for the 2/3rds 1/3rd. Just a thought, as I have no knowledge other than what I've read.

Griffen is known as a shark, and I'm sure he negotiated the best deal he could get for the part that mattered most to him, the South Florida campus. I'd be surprised if CMU was the only school he approached, but they were probably the one that was willing to do it closest to his vision.

Unfortunately, we will never know, but I think there is a near-zero chance that if asked, the UChicago Chancellor would say that this was the best possible outcome given what Ken Griffin would have wanted from whomever was willing to accept his billions.  That was my only point.

For sure but he has billions more. He has done a lot of philanthropy around education. I'm sure some these chancellors have him or his people on speed dial.

[WUPHF]

For sure but he has billions more. He has done a lot of philanthropy around education. I'm sure some these chancellors have him or his people on speed dial.

This is unquestionably true.

I might add, if any Division III institution was going to turn down Ken Griffin on principle, it would be the University of Chicago.

[jknezek]

For sure but he has billions more. He has done a lot of philanthropy around education. I'm sure some these chancellors have him or his people on speed dial.

This is unquestionably true.

I might add, if any Division III institution was going to turn down Ken Griffin on principle, it would be the University of Chicago.

I don't know, off the top of my head, NYU might. I'd also say Johns Hopkins might if they thought it would alienate Bloomberg. Money and politics go hand in hand...