Pitt Gets Nine-Figure Donation

[zls44]

Specifically, I'm looking for Upstater's thoughts, with your background in higher education.

http://post-gazette.com/pg/11265/1176796-100-0.stm

I put it here figuring any Pitt discussion would trail off into realignment anyway.

 

[SAMCRO]

Holy cap, Carnagie Melon University gets $265 million gift from same guy. Marinate should invite them as FB only.

 

[upstater]

It's a big gift. I don't know if there's anything more to say. Pitt's already got a huge endowment. The fact that this isn't dedicated toward an entirely new project, but simply the bottom line, helps the university. My school recently had a country doctor donate $35 million, and the administrators were thrilled by that. It helps tremendously.

 

[junglehusky]

Yale had an anonymous donor fund scholarships for their entire music department. I imagine that would immediately improve the caliber of the students they get and make them a top music school. If they weren't competitive with Juliard, Eastmann, etc they will be.

 

[ctchamps]

So Pitt comes out second best on this deal.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

It's a big gift. I don't know if there's anything more to say. Pitt's already got a huge endowment. The fact that this isn't dedicated toward an entirely new project, but simply the bottom line, helps the university. My school recently had a country doctor donate $35 million, and the administrators were thrilled by that. It helps tremendously.

Your other (IIRC) school, BU, just got a $25 million donation from an alum. Not a bad day for your schools.

 

[upstater]

Your other (IIRC) school, BU, just got a $25 million donation from an alum. Not a bad day for your schools.

Thanks for noting that, I didn't know and just looked it up. $25 million for the Humanities, Honors college, which if it's anything like it was when I was there, still emphasizes the core curriculum. Silber's handiwork.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Thanks for noting that, I didn't know and just looked it up. $25 million for the Humanities, Honors college, which if it's anything like it was when I was there, still emphasizes the core curriculum. Silber's handiwork.

Nah, the Honors College is a new baby that started last year. They ditched UNI which was a terribly executed idea, and formally opened an honors school. Bobby Brown ain't no Silber, he's no fool. Though the Texan's 25 year old signatures still exist around campus.

 

[upstater]

Nah, the Honors College is a new baby that started last year. They ditched UNI which was a terribly executed idea, and formally opened an honors school. Bobby Brown ain't no Silber, he's no fool. Though the Texan's 25 year old signatures still exist around campus.

Interesting. Since BU's average SAT has skyrocketed, I wonder about these Honors students. Are they geniuses or something? Or is this just a way to differentiate between the core student body and the kids with the Associates degrees?

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Interesting. Since BU's average SAT has skyrocketed, I wonder about these Honors students. Are they geniuses or something? Or is this just a way to differentiate between the core student body and the kids with the Associates degrees?

No idea. I graduated before the change was made. I just remember that UNI barely had a presence on campus. Finding a UNI kid was like finding a Superfan at a road game. So if they implement this right and make it a prominent part of the academic life on campus, it could go a long way for the university. We've been steadily moving up in the rankings, which is nice to see, while the hockey team has been steadily moving down in the rankings, which sucks.

 

[upstater]

No idea. I graduated before the change was made. I just remember that UNI barely had a presence on campus. Finding a UNI kid was like finding a Superfan at a road game. So if they implement this right and make it a prominent part of the academic life on campus, it could go a long way for the university. We've been steadily moving up in the rankings, which is nice to see, while the hockey team has been steadily moving down in the rankings, which sucks.

UNI kids were holed up in a couple brownstones on Bay State between Towers and CAS. They were all of them in there together. I got to know them because one played Rugby with me. Of courser, the odd thing was that our scores in School of Comm. at the time were just as high as theirs, but... wow, what a waste of education at Comm.

 

[gars44]

The school that Howard Stern made famous. Interestingly, while I was in the army in Augsburg I got a masters degree at the BU overseas program that they ran for the military. It was great. BU professors would come over to Germany on some kind of sabbatical and teach a couple classes each week and hang out in Bavaria. It was definitely some type of reward for something they did. But they were really great professors, lot's of fun.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

It indeed did make Stern famous, as well as Bill O'Reilly. Stern offered a very, very large donation to COM, $10 million, somewhat recently, which the school had to turn down. He wanted them to rename the school the Howard Stern College of Communication, and put a statue of him in front of the building.

 

[upstater]

The school that Howard Stern made famous. Interestingly, while I was in the army in Augsburg I got a masters degree at the BU overseas program that they ran for the military. It was great. BU professors would come over to Germany on some kind of sabbatical and teach a couple classes each week and hang out in Bavaria. It was definitely some type of reward for something they did. But they were really great professors, lot's of fun.

Oh they were fun. I once had James O'Donnell, the European editor of Time Magazine during WW2 stationed in Germany (he'd been into Hitler's bunker a few times) as a journalism professor. This was back in late 1986. He spent half the class talking about Buckner and the Red Sox, and various other Bostonian interests. But I didn't get much out of them. Very fluffy classes. That's why I somehow got out of there while only taking 7.

 

[gars44]

It indeed did make Stern famous, as well as Bill O'Reilly. Stern offered a very, very large donation to COM, $10 million, somewhat recently, which the school had to turn down. He wanted them to rename the school the Howard Stern College of Communication, and put a statue of him in front of the building.

Sounds like Howard. Cheap bastard.

 

[gars44]

Oh they were fun. I once had James O'Donnell, the European editor of Time Magazine during WW2 stationed in Germany (he'd been into Hitler's bunker a few times) as a journalism professor. This was back in late 1986. He spent half the class talking about Buckner and the Red Sox, and various other Bostonian interests. But I didn't get much out of them. Very fluffy classes. That's why I somehow got out of there while only taking 7.

You had the Boston experience. Nice. I thought the professors over in Europe were pretty dedicated to teaching. Maybe because they were on sabbatical. But great guys, always ready to spend time after class. They were just having a good time.

 

[CL82]

Holy cap, Carnagie Melon University gets $265 million gift from same guy. Marinate should invite them as FB only.

Love the signature picture.