

Colleges single out students by name for not donating to student-gift drives - grellas
http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/scocca/archive/2010/10/27/cornell-and-dartmouth-shame-students-for-not-adding-their-real-money-to-the-ongoing-bonfire-of-imaginary-money.aspx

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wccrawford
I don't think it's 'irritating' or 'obnoxious'. I think the word is
'unethical'. Coercing people into giving their time or money is morally and
ethically reprehensible.

I will -never- give money to any organization that does this, and I will
loudly tell anyone else around about it as well.

I've seen these organizations force people into giving money when they can't
afford to go without it themselves. Worse than failing to help, they are
actively harming people. Whenever I see it, I make sure to let the person know
that they do -not- have to give and they would be fools not to go withdraw
their pledge.

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rflrob
"from the schools' point of view, individual gifts are literally worthless"

What the schools want is for alumni to always be giving. Not dissimilar from
venture funding, they really care about the tiny fraction of alumni who hit it
big, and give tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. It's easier to get the
few rich alumni to give if everyone's in the habit of giving.

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dnjb_20
Ironic. I grew up in a communist country and witnessed the same type of
psychological torture. "Society" and various "communities" had the right to
dispose of your money, your effort, your life... You were supposed to
sacrifice your beliefs for the sake of what some bureaucrat told you is a
greater social good. You were supposed to give, and those who received did not
say thank you - they regarded the acts of claiming and receiving their rights.
You were supposed to reward the mediocre, punish the capable for their
ability, conform, pretend to believe in the slogans, pretend to do everything
voluntarily. These are some of the ideals that brought down half of the world.
It hurts to see this in America.

~~~
hga
Well, it's the only _literally_ totalitarian sector of America. Dartmouth is
particularly notorious for this.

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mikejchin
As a Dartmouth '10, I'm glad that people are continuing to discuss this topic.
I really did feel tremendous pressure to donate this year. While I probably
would have donated anyway (and I admit - it did feel good to have the class
united under a common goal), I now associate the act of giving with guilt and
peer pressure. Those emotions might make me less likely to donate in the
future.

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julius_geezer
How impressively obnoxious. Were I singled out, I think I'd start agitating to
have my fellow students revoke their pledges, cancel their checks, etc.

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pavel_lishin
I'd be tempted to barter. "If I'm the only thing standing between you and
$100,000, I think it only makes sense to give me a thousand dollars."

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samdk

        from the schools' point of view, individual gifts are literally worthless
    

A huge motivator for getting people to donate any amount at all is college
rankings. The US News and World Report takes into account the "average alumni
giving rate"[0] as a factor in their rankings. Since high rankings in turn
drive admissions, staying as high up in the rankings as possible is hugely
important for most colleges and universities (and "elite" schools most of
all).

I'm a senior at a school that generally ranks pretty highly (Wesleyan
University) and I hear this brought up quite a lot in the context of
donations. They don't care if you only donate a dollar, but they want you to
donate _something_.

[0] [http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/best-
colleges/2010/...](http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/best-
colleges/2010/08/17/methodology-undergraduate-ranking-criteria-and-
weights-2011.html)

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momotomo
Irritating. If you want to mandate a contribution, create a structure that
does so and implement your own internal taxation. It's weak to nominate
something as a donation, inferring it is optional, and then try to enforce it.
Complete lack of backbone somewhere in the chain of command.

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seles
"Why would anyone with a normal human level of income give any money to these
universities?"

Because a hot sounding woman calls you and you don't want to sound like a
cheapskate.

~~~
pavel_lishin
The last time my Alma Mater called me, I asked them how they got my number,
what right they had to bother me at work, and to take me off their list.

You want money? Talk to the state about more funding, or raise tuition.

