Dive Brief:
- Philip K. Knight, co-founder and chairman of Nike Inc., is set to donate $400 million to help launch the Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program at Stanford University, named for Knight and Stanford's outgoing president John L. Hennessy. The money will help world-wide recruitment of graduate students who would study solutions to the planet's most pressing problems.
- The New York Times reports the university has raised $750 million for the scholarship, which, starting in 2018, will cover full tuition and board for 100 graduate students from the U.S. and abroad.
- Knight gave Stanford's business school $105 million in 2006 and has been a major contributor to the University of Oregon, where he was an undergraduate.
Dive Insight:
Knight's megagift matches a $400 million donation John A. Paulson made to Harvard last year that drew harsh criticism about the increasing gap between the wealthiest universities and those at the other end of the spectrum. The Council for Aid to Education found that less than 1% of U.S. colleges received almost 30% of all donations in 2015. Institutions with the largest endowments are once again facing scrutiny from Congress over their wealth.
The oldest and most well-endowed universities have more than 100 years of fostering a culture of giving among students, alumni, and philanthropists, who have always held a critical place in higher education in this country.
Some smaller and younger universities could learn from this practice, focusing on their culture of giving and laying the foundation for future gifts.