To the Editor:
As a member of the Class of 1967, I applaud David Burrick's support for a senior class gift ("Why I'm not giving a penny,"DP, 10/13/05). However, I must take exception to his comment that a gift to the Penn Fund does not "leave a mark" and therefore does not make a difference.
Your gift to the Penn Fund will serve all of the critical needs outlined in the column. For all of those reasons, it makes all the difference to Penn. While a class gift to the Penn Fund may not be "permanent" and inscribed in brass or stone, its impact in helping Penn become an even greater institution will be durable and lasting.
Penn's greatness as a university results in no small measure from the generosity of every single alumnus who gives back to the school. Each year, approximately 110,000 individuals give something back to Penn with contributions that range from single digits to millions of dollars. Every penny serves a critical need in funding tuition aid, research, innovative programs, student life and capital improvements.
We are proud that surveys rank Penn among the top schools in the nation and world. On the other hand, Penn's resources -- measured by the endowment -- would rank Penn 70th, far down the list. One consequence is that only 15% of Penn's tuition aid budget is funded from endowment -- whereas many peer institutions are able to fund most of their tuition aid from endowment.
Several weeks ago, I found an old box in the basement that included a folder labeled 1967. Inside, there was a receipt for a gift to Penn in the amount of $14. It is an odd amount -- I don't recall how I decided on that amount, except perhaps that was as much as I could afford. As a percentage of the gifts Penn has received since then, one would need to extend the decimal to the ninth place to describe it, and nanotechnology scope to even find it.
Still, that gift is not lost. Penn has benefited from hundreds of thousands of gifts since then, each new gift building on the last, and look at where Penn is today.
Paul Williams
Wharton '67
The author is a University trustee and president of Penn Alumni
