The Macintosh Chalice, which I donated to Yale Law School (not the Divinity School) in 2008
New Haven artist Clarence Brodeur, editor of the Fontainebleau School Alumni Newsletter, and me in 1979 , unveiling the new Macintosh portrait painted by Brodeur and donated to Yale Divinity School after his original portrait of Macintosh had been vandalized and Yale refused to restore it. The portrait depicts Macintosh pointing to his famous "selective conscientious objection" Supreme Court case (United States v. Macintosh) with his left hand and the Biblical Commandment "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" with his right hand. The portrait can be seen in the Divinity School Common Room.
The grave of Hope Conklin Macintosh and Douglas Clyde Macintosh, Whitneyville Cemetery, on my graduation day, 1980, with my parents, myself and a friend.
I Challenge Yale and the YDN to Answer these Questions
#1 By Grab; Absorb; Run! 5:28a.m. on March 25, 2010
Donors' intentions?
Take a look at the will of the late Hope Conklin Macintosh leaving every penny she and her late husband, Yale Professor Douglas Clyde Macintosh, had (about $70,000 in 1958 ) for the Douglas Clyde Macintosh Fellowship in Systematic Theology to be awarded at graduation each year to a qualified and deserving student.
By your article's $1000 example, it should have grown considerably since then.
Where is it?
Where did the money go? (it has been absorbed and "lost" in the general fund).
I, and the executor of the Macintosh estate , Professor Juilian N. Hartt of the University of Virginia, fought this out with Yale in the 1970's and 80's. The Fellowship was "restored" for two or three years.
Where is it now?
"Take the money and run" (or absorb) is Yale's behavior with the donor in this matter.
PK
The Anti-Yale
Student prizes capped at $1k
Money to be used for financial aid, but some complain of ‘emasculation’
By Vivian Yee
Staff Reporter
The Yale Daily News
Published Thursday, March 25, 2010
When Arden Rogow-Bales ’10 entered the Classics Department’s annual Latin translation competition in the spring of his sophomore year, he thought he had a chance at winning — but he had no idea he would earn several thousand dollars for a few hours of Ovid.
The department had awarded Rogow-Bales the Samuel Henry Galpin Latin Prize, which Galpin’s son Samuel A. Galpin, class of 1870, established more than a century ago with a $1,000 donation. Because Galpin’s $1,000 has grown with Yale’s endowment, Rogow-Bales received considerably more than the $50 Latin prizewinners won at the turn...
#1 By Grab; Absorb; Run! 5:28a.m. on March 25, 2010
Donors' intentions?
Take a look at the will of the late Hope Conklin Macintosh leaving every penny she and her late husband, Yale Professor Douglas Clyde Macintosh, had (about $70,000 in 1958 )for the Douglas Clyde Macintosh Fellowship in Systematic Theology to be awarded at graduation each year to a qualified and deserving student.
By your article's $1000 example, it should have grown considerably since then.
Where is it?
Where did the money go? (it has been absorbed and "lost" in the general fund).
I, and the executor of the Macintosh estate , Professor Juilian N. Hartt of the University of Virginia, fought this out with Yale in the 1970's and 80's. The Fellowship was "restored" for two or three years.
Where is it now?
"Take the money and run" (or absorb) is Yale's behavior with the donor in this matter.
PK
The Anti-Yale
#2 By Anon. 6:29a.m. on March 25, 2010
Using merit awards for financial aid strikes me effectively denying students' their just award. If I understand this correctly, what the university will do with large awards is decrease your financial aid award and fill the gap with the prize you earned. In effect, the student sees no financial benefit (or only a considerably reduced one) beyond what they would have already received through financial aid. At that point, why even bother competing for the prize. If I were a donor who intended to give a prize for merit rather than for need, I would be really annoyed by this.
#3 By Bi 9:58a.m. on March 25, 2010
I share the concerns of the first poster. This is troubling and could make many donors think twice before donating funds for a prize.
I hope the administrators go back and carefully review the terms of these agreements. Speaking as a donor for a prize awarded by another organization in Hew Haven, we expected our prize funds to make an impact in environmental science. A growing prize accomplishes that goal.
Donors must be very specific about their intentions.
#4 By Yale '10 9:59a.m. on March 25, 2010
Yes, it seems they are trying to raid funds where ever they can find them. A similar special fund that I am a beneficiary of was raided a few years back---it had grown much like the endowment, and Yale decided the general fund needed x percent.
#5 By Wow 10:03a.m. on March 25, 2010
This is ridiculous. Stop being greedy, Yale. We live in an expensive world and the students who earn these prizes can use every cent and more of what they're winning, be it for travel, research, grad school, paying bills after college, paying off loans, etc. Who cares if the donors thought about how big the prizes were going to get? They wanted hard working, talented students to see a generous reward for their efforts, and given inflation and the rise in the cost of living, $1000 is a pittance.
#6 By '13 10:31a.m. on March 25, 2010
So what happens when those students who aren't on financial aid win a prize? Do they get the full amount of money? Seems extremely unfair that they should get the full prize because their parents make more money than mine.
#7 By y11 10:41a.m. on March 25, 2010
This article is a little confusing. Are the prizes being cut in order to make more money available for general financial aid, or is the prize money just being converted from "cash" to financial aid specifically for the recipients? It states the latter will be the case for the English prize, but what about the others?
Either way, this seems like a bad thing. Before people jump on Bales for simply saying that his prize money saved him two summer jobs, there is a legitimate point there. Many humanities students rely on prize money to support a summer of unpaid, independent writing--particularly those who do fiction.
Converting prize money to financial aid is impractical, and giving it away entirely is unfair.
#8 By JJ 10:52a.m. on March 25, 2010
This is ridiculous. A university with an endowment of billions of dollars cries over losing pennies because they go to students who achieve things. Using the money for financial aid is just another way for Yale to avoid spending its own money because they will reduce the financial aid awards given from Yale accordingly.
Absolutely pathetic.
#9 By Breach of Fiduciary Duty? 11:11a.m. on March 25, 2010
Reappropriating funds against the intent of the donor? A "pat on the back" bonus for the consultant who put forth this "semi-repeating one-off" budget fix that fails to address underlying issues.
#10 By bad faith 11:16a.m. on March 25, 2010
If I were an outstanding student if Latin or Ancient who had chosen Yale over competing offers from similar schools, based in part on the availability of prize income to offset the need to seek additional income over the summer, I would regard this as a betrayal, and not just a betrayal of the donors' intentions, which were to encourage students to study a classically non-lucrative field of study. Talk about bait and switch!
#11 By Rudy '73 11:28a.m. on March 25, 2010
Sounds like theft to me, or at least a severe breach of fiduciary duty for a totally self-serving purpose. Someone might want to alert the Connecticut Attorney General. Where funds have been given to the University with a specified purpose, the University is a fiduciary for the donor or his/her estate. To siphon off the "excess" because the University, in it's infinite wisdom (and need) determines the donor would have wanted it that way is grossly irresponsible and outrageous.
Should I ever leave anything to benefit Yalies I will certainly NOT entrust the University to look after it.
#12 By Rudy '73 11:34a.m. on March 25, 2010
Perhaps the cap should be 20% of Yale's annual fees for tuition, room and board. Back in my day that would have maxed out an award at $900.
This new policy is not only borderline criminal, it is arrogant in the extreme.
#13 By skeptic 11:42a.m. on March 25, 2010
Prizes are invidious things, important only to insecure individuals who need outside validation of their self-worth. And are they actually "earned", as in payment for work performed, anyway?
#14 By priorities wrong 11:58a.m. on March 25, 2010
Why don't we take away something like Spring Fling that has no relationship to our educations but costs tens of thousands of dollars? That money doesn't seem to be tied up on donors wishes either.
#15 By What. The. Hell. 12:27p.m. on March 25, 2010
This is ridiculous!!!! Does Yale even have a right to absorb the funds of these prize endowments? What is the legality of this??? Can someone comment?
#16 By '08 1:14p.m. on March 25, 2010
I have somewhat mixed opinions on this. I don't think that undergrads should feel like they are "entitled" to these prizes; the meaningful part should be the recognition of one's accomplishments, and in that sense, the size of the monetary award should be unimportant.
At the same time, I was a recipient of a few-thousand-dollar prize from my department at graduation, and I have to say that that money was /incredibly/ useful when it came to moving to graduate school and furnishing my apartment and things. Money would have been quite a lot tighter without that award, and I feel like recognizing excellent students for their accomplishments and giving them a leg up post-yale is a really nice thing to do. A $1000 prize would still have been useful, but wouldn't have made the same impact.
#17 By @#14 1:52p.m. on March 25, 2010
Agreed. I've always thought that Yale should throw a carnival with maybe a couple rides and student live music rather than bringing in costly acts that people are just going to complain about. It would still be expensive, but I doubt it would cost nearly as much, and people would have more fun.
#18 By @16 1:57p.m. on March 25, 2010
I don't think people in general feel entitled. I doubt I'm going to be winning any prizes, because while my work is good, it's not of the truly spectacular quality of some of my peers. I'm not crying that I won't get a prize because of that.
I do, however, feel that those who have done work of a quality that earns them the recognition of one of these prizes ARE entitled to whatever amount the donor saw fit to give them. People who do exceptional work in non-lucrative fields can really use it, and they worked hard, so it's not like they don't deserve a reward. It's like if you work hard at your job and get a bonus: you earned it. And, like you said, anything helps when you're in your early 20s and trying to get started in life.
#19 By le_aviateur021 3:20p.m. on March 25, 2010
Simply despicable and shameful.
#20 By '02 4:42p.m. on March 25, 2010
Do we know how much the Snow, Sudler, Chittenden, Warren, and Hadley prizes will be? Many of these are based purely on GPA alone; is there an explanation why they are worth much more than other prizes?
#21 By adam t 5:46p.m. on March 25, 2010
look out: travel fellowships are next
#22 By lmc 7:06p.m. on March 25, 2010
Teachers chewed up and spit out in their pursuit for tenure. Graduate students not receiving accurate wages for being teachers. Silent tuition upticks. Prize money made invisible in order to be "used for financial aid."
Hurray for the bottom line.
#23 By anon 10:18p.m. on March 25, 2010
travel fellowships are already being cut.
#24 By appalled 2010 11:53a.m. on March 26, 2010
This is really terrible, especially in the case of things like that English dept. prize for graduate study. When will arts and humanities majors ever get such "bonuses" again?
#25 By '11 4:06p.m. on March 28, 2010
this is a disgusting breach of a probably now dead donor's will - it's like cremating someone when they wanted a burial.
#26 By Recent Alum 11:58p.m. on March 28, 2010
Even aside from the ethical considerations, I'm struggling to see how violating donors' intent is a good business decision for Yale in the long run. Why would today's alums be inclined to donate where the university is so nonchalant about honoring former donors?
#27 By 2010 2:29a.m. on March 29, 2010
Well, priorities wrong, Spring Fling IS largely "tied up on donors wishes"--it's largely funded by student activities fees, and I believe gets some money from people who donate to the University for "student life."
If you want to take money that students have paid and specifically earmarked for social activities and instead use it to give a prize to that DS tool who decided to read Iliad in the original greek "because something might be lost in translation," maybe you should put in an application to transfer to Harvard, or better yet, Chicago--where fun goes to die.
I'm not really sure that I agree with the tack that a lot of commenters are taking on here. I think that if the university were gutting need-based aid to cover its bottom line, it would be a travesty. However, what seems to be happening here is we're taking from a pot of money that is guaranteed to go to someone in a fairly monochrome and well-off field of study (seriously, look at the Yale facebook pics of Classics majors, then check out the average home prices in their zip codes--a rough proxy, but about the best I can come up with), and giving the money to people with less money, regardless of what major they choose to study. I think that's probably a good thing for society--given the choice between giving an upper middle class Classics major spending money and preventing a kid from the soundview projects from having to take on a crippling debt load, I think the latter represents a better allocation of resources.
Now, this isn't to say that Classics majors shouldnt' get any money. What I am saying is that in distributing money to students, regardless of major, Yale should hold true to what it told us when we were applying and distribute money on the basis of need.
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