EDITORIAL: Bucking the trend in college donations
If there’s anything positive in the Council for Aid to Education report about plummeting donations to colleges and universities nationwide, it’s that Baylor University didn’t see the steep drop that so many universities did.
While the University of Texas at Austin in 2009 saw a 16 percent drop in donations from the previous year; Texas Christian University, a 15 percent drop; and Texas A&M University, a 10 percent drop, donations at Baylor for the same period remained mostly steady, dropping only 2 percent, with nearly $45 million in donations reported for 2009 and $46 million in 2008.
Yes, that confounds those who continue to insist the long-running feud between Baylor and its independent alumni association has caused donations to run dry — something Dennis Prescott, Baylor vice president for development, tells us is myth, not fact.
In any case, all those who hold Baylor University dear should rejoice in the steady giving in recent years. Prescott says the donations come not only from proud university alumni but the parents of students who have gone to Baylor — even if they themselves didn’t attend.
Among the reasons cited for strong pledges in recent years are projects that fired up Baylor supporters, including the sprawling, $34 million Alwin O. and Dorothy Highers Athletics Complex, which includes the Simpson Athletics and Academic Center, and the $8 million Lt. Jack Whetsel Jr. Basketball Practice Facility.
Prescott acknowledges that the steep drop in giving that characterizes so many other universities may catch up with Baylor, considering the economic uncertainty of our times. However, considering the look of today’s campus and continuing strides in enrollment and programs, we expect this situation eventually to improve, especially as Baylor chooses a new president and exciting priorities are set for the years ahead.
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