At Colgate U., Students Are the Grant Makers

At Colgate University, in N.Y., students can take a seminar on philanthropy—and dispense $10,000 in grants at the end of the semester to charities they deem worthy, reports The New York Times.

Ellen Percy Kraly, the professor who teaches the course, says part of the goal of the program is to help the economically depressed area surrounding the relatively wealthy campus. The seminar is supported by a grant from the Brennan Family Foundation, in Akron, Ohio, which provided $50,000 for five years for student-awarded grants.

Students taking the seminar, which is not currently offered for college credit, say they plan to give the money to a small local charity so that future classes can monitor how the grant is being used.

Similar philanthropy courses are also offered at Davidson College, in North Carolina, the University of Virginia, Cornell, and the University of Mary Washington, in Fredericksburg, Va.

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