Philanthropy Comes in Different Color!
Sunday- Checked my online New York University account to find that I have been awarded a four thousand dollar fellowship (Graduate Dean Fellowship) for this academic year. I was excited and thought for a second, free money from NYU (private school)? Even though I have won many bigger scholarships before, it was all from public universities in Florida. Then I realized there are many endowments given by foundations to private universities for students in America. As it is free money, I thought I should do something in return for the school other than being a good student. Yes, I do teach free public speaking seminars for graduate students at NYU to quelch their fear of public speaking (glassophobia). Maybe more different services? Still pondering.
"Giving back" might sound crazy for such a small fellowship, but it is the most common reason given by many philanthropists when they were asked the reason for their charity. This was according to the book I recently read named "The Foundation: A Great American Secret." When I went to get my undergraduate degree in India, my Dad paid a paltry tuition fees (but that was lot of money for his economic capacity), not just compared to America but also to Indian standards. He paid $200 per annum in tuition fees for me to attend one of the top ten best engineering schools in the country (India).
The author of the above fantastic book opened my eyes to a deep sector of knowledge about the foundation and its functioning. But there are two things he could have done to make the book even bettter: 1. In his third chapter, "Why they give," he discussed many reasons, including the one I mentioned above but he didn't mention the personal debacles which inspire philanthropists to give. For example, John D. Rockefellar (man in the middle picture) is the richest man ever (modern day equivalent of his worth is 200 billion, whereas Bill Gates is only 50+ billion). Rockefellar was moved to form a medical research institute (including the Rockefellar University, which has the highest number of Nobel Prize winners in America) because his granddaughter (if I am not wrong) succumbed to yellow fever. Andrew Carnegie (man in the first picture) also made his billions starting from a job as a telegram delivery boy. It is been alleged that if you wanted to make Carnegie open his wallet, you had to say the funds are for young men's education. No wonder there are so many thousands of Carnegie libraries. He didn't have a formal education so he wanted other young men to have one. Even Oprah has a foundation and builds fantastic boarding schools in Africa for girls. Oprah also went through an impoverished upbringing, including a teenage pregnancy, and could be analyzed from the same perspective.
The second thing I felt bad about the book is that on its cover the author had 5 men and 2 women (kudos for including women philantropists), but all of them are white philantropists. Who should the minority kids look up to? What about Oprah Winfrey who made her billions on her own talent, as opposed to the two white women on the cover, who both inherited the money after their husbands' deaths? If they could be there, you bet your hat and coat that Oprah Winfrey could be there on the cover. Think, Mr. old and white author, you are writing this book in 21st century. :-)