Student Housing Designed to Spur Camaraderie and More Enrollment
By Maria Di Mento and HEATHER JOSLYN
February 10, 2014 | Read Time: 2 minutes
While much of the money donors on the Philanthropy 50 contributed to colleges went to promote research and other causes, two of the largest gifts were designed to make sure students have better chances to learn from one another by living together.
Charles Munger (No. 17 on the list) pledged his largest donation of last year—$110-million—to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and earmarked $100-million of the gift to build a housing complex where graduate students from varying disciplines can live together and avoid the social isolation that so often accompanies graduate study. The remaining $10-million will go toward a graduate fellowship program.
Mr. Munger, the vice chairman of the holding company Berkshire Hathaway said he gave the money because he believes housing has a big effect on one’s education. “It’s very uncommon that administrations are much interested in creating dormitories because if you’re an elite place and you’ve got 10 applicants for every spot, it’s perfectly natural to think, ‘Why the hell do we need to do any more for the students? They’re begging to get in,’” he says. “I don’t think you abuse your best customers merely because you can get by with it.”
This isn’t his first donation to support residences at the institution. In 2011 he gave $20-million to the university’s law school to renovate housing for law students.
The 90-year-old Mr. Munger decided to donate the money now rather than give it as a bequest so he can see the results of his giving.
“I’m soon going to be departed from all of my money,” he said. “Why not give more of it away while I get the fun of giving it?”
New Housing for Yale
Another philanthropist on The Chronicle’s list of America’s most generous donors, Charles Johnson (No. 6), also felt student housing was important to support last year.
He pledged $250-million to Yale University to build two residential colleges, the first time the university has built such housing since 1961.
The new construction is expected to help the institution increase its enrollment by 15 percent.
Mr. Johnson is retired as head of Franklin Resources, the parent company of Franklin Templeton Investments.
He is a majority shareholder of the San Francisco Giants baseball team. He graduated from Yale in 1954.
