Boston University has recruited a prodigious academic fundraiser from Harvard’s law school.
It has begun to develop a strategic plan aimed at bettering alumni relations.
And it has raised the university endowment from almost nothing to close to a billion dollars in just 35 years.
But there is still work to be done.
And Boston University ranked a dismal 74th place in 2005 with $777,514,000 in endowment funds, according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers.
When former President John Silber assumed the office in January 1971, the university held an endowment of just $18.8 million. BU was still a commuter school and had not gained the national prestige that it has today.
The biggest obstacle BU faces in developing its endowment is itself. Boston University is an immense and fractured institution, where students come to identify with individual schools or student groups; administrators must encourage students to rally behind the school as a whole, if they hope to raise the endowment the university needs.
The school has already made strides with the creation of the Fitness and Recreation Center and Agganis Arena — both places where students can come together as a university.
But even at these new facilities, students sometimes feel alienated by an administration that imposes rules making it seem like they were not built to serve students. While Agganis Arena is a hot spot for spirited hockey games, for example, it also houses overpriced shows aimed at off-campus audiences, without extending ticket discounts to BU’s own students.
Boston University must win the faith of its students if it expects them to trust it with their donation money as alumni. Specifically, it must continue to regain the trust lost when the university paid Daniel Goldin $1.8 million to walk away from a botched presidential nomination in 2003.
Every little thing will count when it comes to bringing money to the university’s endowment. Even WiFi in the winter will increase school spirit when spring rolls around.