While donations from alumni continue to play a vital role in maintaining the College's operating costs, the power of graduates to direct the actual uses of their gifts has declined prodigiously throughout the years.
Last month, Yale University decided to return a $20 million gift to an alumnus who demanded that the money go to "create a program in Western civilization."
The alumnus, Lee Bass, wanted to approve the professors for the course, but Yale did not agree to the request, The Chronicle of Higher Education said.
Yale's decision raised questions across higher education about how much control donors should have over their gifts.
The College's Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations, Stan Colla, said "one could conceive of a situation in which a donor would make a gift" the College could not accept. But, he added, such a situation has not arisen in the "very immediate past."
The majority of gifts the College receives are small and oriented toward four annual giving programs, which are the Alumni Fund and a fund at each of the three graduate schools, Colla said.
No restrictions can be placed on donations to any of the giving programs, he said.
"The minute anyone puts a tag on it," the College can not use the gift, said Jeff Sassorossi, senior associate director of the Alumni Fund.
Although alumni donate money for unrestricted use, Colla said he has "had people approach [him] with interests of theirs" when making donations. But the College encourages donors to place their money in areas that need support, he said.
The interests of the donor must coincide with the priorities of the College for the donation to be put to immediate use, he said. Otherwise, the donor must wait until his or her objective becomes a priority.
According to Jack DeGange, director of development publication, the majority of the gifts the College currently receives are structured to "reflect the academic objectives of the College."
Sassorossi said the money must be used within the fiscal year and is allocated to pay salaries, fund scholarships or wherever the Board of Trustees feels it is most needed.
Colla said a gift to the Alumni Fund is used for immediate needs and has unrestricted purposes.
Director of Special Gifts Colleen Bartlett said the College budget is dependent on the stream of income that goes into the giving programs. Bartlett said alumni also make donations to endowments, both with and without restrictions.
"In general, colleges and universities accept gifts which are consistent with their mission and the courses and programs they offer," Director of Major Gifts Paul Sheff said.
For example, he said, if a potential donor offered to give the College money for a Bantu Studies program, the College might not accept.
Although "Dartmouth's mission is to educate," such a program might not be in accordance with the courses and programs offered by the College, he said.
Gifts with a purpose
But throughout Dartmouth's history, donations by alumni for specific purposes have greatly influenced the College and have even caused changes in courses of study.
According to faded newspaper clippings in Baker Library's Special Collections, alumni have been financial assets to the College for many years.
Edwin Sanborn, a member of the Class of 1878 donated $400,000 to make an English House and $1 million to create an endowment fund. The yearly income from the fund was supposed to be used to purchase books for the College library.
The construction of Sanborn House was funded from his donation.
Harold Bullard, Class of 1884, also donated $1,000 to enlarge the chapel organ.
Edward Tuck, Class of 1862, donated money for the creation of a memorial statue dedicated to Richard Hall '15, who was the first Dartmouth alumnus to die in World War I.
The Reverend John Johnson, Class of 1866, donated $1,000 so students could have Thanksgiving dinners at Dartmouth Outing Club cabins.
He also donated $1,000 to the Ledyard Canoe Club, which had recently formed when he made the donation.
Some relatives of alumni and friends of the College also made donations with stipulations.
In 1920 Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Hill donated $5,000 for the creation of shower baths next to the Spaulding swimming pool as a memorial for their son, a Dartmouth alumnus.
Richard Haskell donated $50,000 from the estate of his father to create a scholarship fund to commemorate the achievements of alumnus Frank Aretas Haskell, who was a Civil War hero.
In the late 19th century, Daniel Winkley donated money to the College to found a professorship in Anglo-Saxon and English literature.
J. W. Newton, Class of 1886, decided to donate to the College an item other than money. He gave the College a flag that depicted the College seal and motto, which was meant to be carried during the Commencement procession.
Charles Marx '31 followed that method by donating a collection of rare coins to the College in 1981.
Even some strangers to Dartmouth have bestowed donations upon the College.
In 1941 Emil Bommer, a man who disliked college education and had never seen Dartmouth before, donated $500,000.
His stipulations on the money were that it could not be used to support competitive sports, the "so-called dead languages," or women's education.
