The Will to Excel capital campaign, the most prodigious and successful fundraising effort in the history of the College, ended in October. Now, six months and $568 million later, students want College Treasurer Lyn Hutton to show them the money.
Students have said a lot funds from the campaign should be specifically directed toward student life, but according to Hutton much of the money is off limits because "it wasn't given for those purposes."
A lot of the $568 million was earmarked for specific projects by the donors, especially for the construction of new buildings.
For example, Byrne Dining Hall, the Collis Center, the Moore Theatre and the soon-to-open Roth Center for Jewish Life were all funded by donations given during the Will to Excel campaign.
And a $27.5 million gift, the largest ever received by the College, was given by John W. Berry '44 specifically for the construction of the new Berry Library.
But not all of the campaign money is going into physical plant.
Hutton said $53 million of the donations were for student aid and additional funds for the operation and maintenance of existing campus buildings -- prime examples of how campaign money is directly beneficial to the campus.
"It's not like there's pots of money going around un-utilized," she said.
Still, many are discouraged by the fact that the College does not have the flexibility to use so many millions of dollars as the students might like them to.
Student Assembly Vice President Chris Swift '98 said, "I don't think it's unreasonable for the student body to say to the College, 'Look, we have five budgeting priorities -- why can't we take one half of once percent and devote that money to student life?'"
Swift said some of the unrestricted Will to Excel money could be used for a variety of purposes, such as setting up a fund from which the Undergraduate Finance Committee could draw each year.
But the College cannot freely spend endowment funds -- defined by the 1996 Annual Report as "gifts that are subject to donor or legal restrictions as well as other unrestricted gifts and College funds which are invested to provide support for College activities in accordance with donor restrictions or by College directions."
The principal for these investments, Hutton said, can not generally be spent. The income from this investment capital goes to the College's budget, but only for the exclusive purposes specified by the donor.
"As fiduciaries, we can't divert the money," Hutton said. "The money for the endowment from the campaign went where it was supposed to go, to support donor-specified programs."
Such restricted gifts comprise the majority of donations to the College. Unrestricted gifts -- which can be inserted into the College's general operating budget and used in any way the College wants -- are much rarer.
"It's highly unusual for a donor to give $2 million and say you spend it however you want," Hutton said. "When people make large gifts, they want to say how you can use it."
Any unrestricted gifts have been spent in the operating budget, she said, and new, restricted donations are being spent in accordance with the donor's wishes.
"As pledges come in and are paid off, we put it in the appropriate account and start spending the income," she said.
