Gift for Cal

Today it was announced that a huge gift of $113 million dollars was donated to Cal from the Hewlett foundation. This is from the Berkeley Online newsletter:

"UC Berkeley today announced the largest private gift in its history, $113 million from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Heralding a turning point in the financing of public higher education, the gift provides endowment support to help close the funding gap between the nation's preeminent public university and its elite private peers, according to Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau.

The Hewlett gift provides UC Berkeley with a major new source of endowed funds to attract and support world-class faculty and graduate students. Through a challenge grant, it will create 100 endowed chairs, permanent funds designed to keep UC Berkeley professors' salaries competitive with those at the best private schools and to recruit top graduate students. The Hewlett Challenge will match other private donations dollar-for-dollar, resulting in $220 million in new endowments once the challenge is met. An additional $3 million will be used to support an enhanced infrastructure for managing those endowed funds."

This is a fantastic boost in the arm for the University and a huge step[ forward in Bergenau's quest to make Cal as competitive academically as the best private universities.

Frankly, I think increasing exposure on the football front, with increasing corporate and large foundation funding will spur donations from individuals. Bergenau had an editorial in the SF Chronical trying to get opinion swayed to allow a matching program from the government for private donations. He is looking for California to allow up to $250 million to be allocated to spur private donations to the University. I think that would encourage folks to contribute much more.

GO BEARS!