
Phil Knight, Nike Founder, Donates $400M to Stanford University - chirau
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/24/business/philip-knight-of-nike-to-give-400-million-to-stanford-scholars.html
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mc32
Meanwhile underfunded state schools who do the lion's share of getting people
into middle class jobs and giving the students a leg up in life, serving those
in between scholarships and the trust fund kids get ignored and bypassed.

Yes this has the potential to benefit third world countries if the students go
back and contribute, but we well know there are many poor and disadvantaged in
the US as well who get the short shrift.

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oldmanjay
I'm sure you find your point emotionally resonant so I'll give you an
opportunity to make it interesting with a loaded question - is it better for
the species to push people to grow beyond their bounds or is it better to
swell in the middle?

~~~
geebee
Is it really either or? (BTW, I don't find your question objectionable - I
disagree, but it doesn't bother me at all that you asked it).

For instance, across the bay from Stanford, there's a large state supported
research university that probably has just a few more top-10 and top-5 PhD
programs than Stanford (or Harvard, for that matter). It has a much higher
percentage of low income students, and because it also enrolls a much larger
undergraduate population, it enrolls more low income students (including more
students who are the first in their families to ever attend college) than the
entire ivy league combined.

Why not give 300 mil to that school? You wouldn't be "swelling the middle",
these are talented students, but you would be supporting more low income
students.

