<p>This might be of interest to prospective students and parents. At commencement today, President Ruscio made a special announcement. An alum has donated $100 Million to the school, supposed to be the 2nd largest gift ever to a Liberal Arts College. Perhaps more importantly, $85 Million of that is going to go directly to providing need-based aid, without replacing any financial assistance the university already provides.</p>
<p>This fantastic news comes only two months after Gerry Lenfest gave the school a $33 Million gift, itself the sixth biggest ever given to a Liberal Arts College. What a great way to show off what W&L students mean when they talk about the fantastic alumni support!</p>
<p>I like the 2 chairs they are adding. Not really surprised about the Leadership Focus since Ruscio was the Dean of the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at Richmond. My Army officer H thinks this is great.</p>
<p>what exactly is the endowment right now? if i recall, some trust out of Atlanta (coca cola money i think) was excluded recently from the configuration but i can't remember why.
that gift of 100 million is just mind blowing. what a great way for an alum to say thanks.</p>
<p>Wouldn't it be nice to pass along some of this gift to the students and give them a slight break on part of the COA and/or raise the workstudy pay rate? :)</p>
<p>politically correct answer: no
politically incorrect answer: yes</p>
<p>it would be a terrific bonus but i don't think it'll happen.
i'm interested in finding out if the $1 billion plus for williams, etc. are controlled by the schools themselves or subject to control by others. It is an area that intrigues me.
interesting fact is that W&L now outpaces Davidson almost 2:1 if I'm reading the numbers correctly.</p>
<p>I would love to get a little more financial aid or have a raised workstudy rate... I imagine they have to do SOMETHING with the $85 that we'll see.</p>