[OT] they have the money, but they still suck

hahvahd endowment reaches 25 billion
[www.cnn.com]

And yet they still charge 40k or so for entrance. Could someone explain to me why an alumni would give more money to them?

[Q]kaelistus Wrote:

And yet they still charge 40k or so for entrance. Could someone explain to me why an alumni would give more money to them? [/q]

As a very wise late-night talk show host once said in the 2000 Harvard Commencement Address:

[Q]There is also sadness today, a feeling of loss that you're leaving Harvard forever. Well, let me assure you that you never really leave Harvard. The Harvard Fundraising Committee will be on your ass until the day you die. Right now, a member of the Alumni Association is at the Mt. Auburn Cemetery shaking down the corpse of Henry Adams. They heard he had a brass toe ring and they aims to get it. Imagine: These people just raised 2.5 billion dollars and they only got through the B's in the alumni directory. Here's how it works. Your phone rings, usually after a big meal when you're tired and most vulnerable. A voice asks you for money. Knowing they just raised 2.5 billion dollars you ask, "What do you need it for?" Then there's a long pause and the voice on the other end of the line says, "We don't need it, we just want it." It's chilling.[/Q]

[www.february-7.com]

Major Stanford alumni have very public competitions one-upping one another; it's probably the same effect.

Good money and good sense are unrelated phenomena.

Perhaps alumni (that's plural, by the way) continue to give to Hahvahd partly because they understand how endowments work.

Beeeej

let's not forget that harvard has also been around the block the longest... at a modest 6% annual interest, a $15 principal should give you $25.9 billion in 367 years!

[q]Good money and good sense are unrelated phenomena.[/q]Who needs good sense when you have good money? One of the great things about being rich is it provides you with a big margin of error on your stupidity.

[Q]KeithK Wrote:

Good money and good sense are unrelated phenomena.[/Q]
Who needs good sense when you have good money? One of the great things about being rich is it provides you with a big margin of error on your stupidity.[/q]

Like multiple failed oil companies!