Boston University President Robert Brown had the pleasure of announcing a generous gift from current alumni to those graduating — a group of past students pledged $100,000 toward this year’s class gift with no strings attached. It’s no surprise that these alumni decided to give this money instead of qualifying their offer with a crass demand for matching funds; these people have endured the same challenges today’s senior class is now facing.

BU leaders also understand that they must build an endowment that fits the university’s size and stature for it to become a leading institution. With few rich donors willing to grant the school millions with the sweep of a pen, the university must rely on an army of small donors.

It’s still odd, however, that Brown himself made an appearance to cheerlead an event as traditionally trivial as the senior gift — after he spent last week meeting with foreign alumni in China to raise $1 million — but the benefits extend far beyond a fountain off of Commonwealth Avenue. No stranger to the business of grooming alumni for donations, the administration at BU knows that establishing seniors as givers now will make it easier for the university to ask them for donations in the future.

Though the administration can do this, it should not. Alumni deserve far more respect and the administration should act in a more dignified manner. BU has treated its former students like cash cows, tastelessly dogging them with letters weeks after graduation and calling their homes for years. Though the university has to actively seek donations, it must also respect its alumni. After all, the administration can’t put a price on their goodwill.