The Centennial of The University of California, 1868-1968
Philanthropy
The history of private giving at the University has been as enduring as the University itself. Between March 23, 1868 and June 30, 1965, the Regents accepted a total of 128,058 private gifts with a cumulative value of $232,031,688, for an average of $2,392,079 per year.
Prior to 1920-21, the University reported annual gift totals of one million dollars or more on only two occasions. In 1909-10, annual gifts amounted to $1,249,754; in 1912-13, donors contributed $1,245,961. Conversely, in only three years since 1921-22 has gift income failed to reach the million dollar level as annual totals continue their upward trend.
Also encouraging is the substantial increase in the number of endowments held by the University. On June 30, 1930, there were 301 separate endowment funds, the largest being the Edward F. Searles Fund, with an original value of $1,500,000. The growth that followed was phenomenal; on June 30, 1965, 1,137 endowments were under the trusteeship of the Regents. The value of the Searles fund on this date was listed at $5,949,000.
The greatest impetus for private support was experienced between 1959 and 1965, for in 1959, in recognition of the need to stimulate private giving on a planned, carefully organized basis, a University-wide gifts and endowments officer was appointed. By 1961, campus gift officers had been named at Berkeley, Davis and Los Angeles. Four years later, there were gift officers on all nine campuses.
By the end of the fiscal year 1960-61, gift totals had climbed to $15,953,502 for a 20.2 per cent increase over the previous
By 1963, private support at the University was beginning to compare favorably with similar programs at other American educational institutions. The 1962-63 biennial report of the Council for Financial Aid to Education ranked the University in terms of total philanthropy seventh among all schools in the country and first among all public institutions. Still climbing, the annual figure reached #26,441,152 by 1964-65, more than in any prior year, for a 29.9 per cent advance over 1963-64.
As foundations responded to the increasing needs of colleges and universities, the University benefitted greatly by subventions from this source. In fact, from 1960-61 to 1964-65, foundations were the leading source of private support for the University, followed in descending order by individuals, associations, corporations, and alumni.
The most productive period of philanthropy in the University's history occurred from 1960-61 to 1964-65, when the cumulative value of gifts received was listed at $90,374,511 for an annual average of $18,074,902. The Berkeley and Los Angeles campuses combined were responsible for $57,279,331 or 63.3 per cent of this total.
Berkeley: As the first University campus, Berkeley has enjoyed a long and impressive gift record.
The first major gift, one for the founding of a professorship, came from Edward Tompkins who deeded 47 acres of land at what is now the junction of Broadway and College Avenue in Oakland. Other endowed chairs of learning were established during this early period by Darius Ogden Mills, Dr. Charles M. Hitchcock together with his daughter Mrs. Lillie Hitchcock Coit, and Cora Jane Flood.
The first building fund contribution came from Henry Douglas Bacon in 1881 for the construction of a library. Another significant structure that rose on the new campus, actually the third building to be constructed, was Harmon Gymnasium--an octagonal-shaped structure and the first to be financed entirely through private funds--thanks to Albion Keith Paris Harmon, a long-time friend of the University.
The largest bequest of this early era, amounting to $1,500,000, was received from Mrs. May Treat Morrison and served to create the A. F. and May T. Morrison Professorships of History and Municipal Law.
Another remarkable benefaction was that of James Lick and made possible the founding of the Lick Observatory. It was endowed according to Lick's will in 1879. Today the total land owned by the University at the Lick Observatory is 3,500 acres.
An additional gift with continual benefits is that which Michael Reese provided the University. Each year, for nearly 90 years now, hundreds of books bearing the label “Reese Library of the University of California” have been placed on the shelves of the University library. Great sums have been expended for these books, and the original fund of $50,000 left by bequest in 1878 from the estate of Michael Reese, an exciting entrepreneur, remains intact. Only the interest is available for expenditure.
An entire volume has been devoted to the munificence of Jane K. Sather, whose name has become legendary at Berkeley. Her principal gifts include undergraduate scholarships, Sather Gate, and the bell tower, popularly known as the Campanile.
A monumental name is that of Phoebe Apperson Hearst, who occupies a place of honor in the University's history. The first woman to be appointed a Regent, Mrs. Hearst is responsible for financing the basic physical and architectural plan for the Berkeley campus. Her contributions also include Hearst Hall, presently serving as a gymnasium for women; the Hearst Memorial Mining Building; and the Phoebe Apperson Hearst Scholarships.
With the opening of a campus gift office at Berkeley in August of 1961, contributions showed a decided increase. On June 30, 1965, Berkeley's gift total soared to a record $9,049,076 with the help of an unprecedented $5 million grant from the Ford Foundation. Berkeley could also claim the highest five-year average from 1960-61 to 1964-65, which figured at $5,759,636.
The first annual giving program was started in 1963 under the auspices of the California Alumni Foundation, a subsidiary corporation of the California Alumni Association. This new concept, involving annual participation by alumni, was an outgrowth of the statewide alumni scholarship program which began in 1934. The concept of annual giving broadened opportunities for alumni to support University endeavors. The new program also gave rise to the organization of the Robert Gordon Sproul Associates whose members contribute a minimum of $1,000 to the University each year for a ten-year period. During 1964, the California Alumni Foundation received and turned over $161,923 to the University. Of this amount, $139,000 was contributed by 3,344 individuals with the balance coming from other organizations. On June 30, 1965, there were 60 charter members enrolled in the Robert Gordon Sproul Associates.
Los Angeles: Private support at Los Angeles can be correlated with the tremendous growth UCLA has experienced in recent years, particularly since World War II. Gift income rose from $3,326,468 to $7,133,371, a 114 per cent increase, between 1960-61 and 1964-65 for an annual average of $5,696,230.
The largest single gift ever made to Los Angeles, both in size and value, has been the campus property itself. This magnificent gift, made jointly by the cities of Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and Venice (then a separate municipality) was officially selected as the present campus site by the Regents on March 21, 1925.
The roster of outstanding donors who have made important benefactions to Los Angeles is long and imposing. One of the largest grants awarded to this campus in recent years was that of the Ford Foundation in the amount of $2,000,000 in 1964-65. The average annual gift income of $5,696,230 for the years 1961-65 placed Los Angeles very near the top when ranked with other University campuses.
One of the most prominent of all contributions to Los Angeles was Kerckhoff Hall, made possible by the generosity of Mrs. William G. Kerckhoff in memory of her husband. Formally dedicated on January 20, 1931, the building continues to serve as a center for student life at Westwood. Another prime benefaction was the Michael J. Connell Memorial Fund which was established through a $1 million bequest in 1935. Mr. Connell had served as chairman of the board of the Citizens National Trust and Savings Bank of Los Angeles. In 1965 the value of the Connell fund was listed as $2,350,515.
Still another important bequest was that of William Andrews Clark, Jr., in honor of his father, Senator William Andrews Clark, which included a fascinating collection of rare books, a library building, five acres of property surrounding the library and Mr. Clark's Los Angeles residence. In addition, young Clark provided an endowment of $1,500,000 to maintain and develop the library.
A gift of art with extraordinary significance was the Willitts J. Hole Art Collection, donated to Los Angeles in 1940 by
The Will Rogers Memorial Scholarships, named after the inimitable humorist, the Mira Hershey Residence Hall for women, and the Ralph Bunche Papers that were given to the University library represent only a cross section of other important benefactions to UCLA over the years.
The UCLA Progress Fund, a prototype in University alumni annual giving programs, was originated by the UCLA Alumni Association on July 6, 1945. During the fiscal year 1963-64, some $62,685 was contributed to the fund, primarily in response to direct mail solicitations, to provide basic support for undergraduate scholarships. In 1964-65, the progress fund reached $119,694 with 1,088 alumni taking part for an average gift of $110 per donor.
Quite proudly, Los Angeles reported the highest gift totals among all campuses in 1962-63 and 1963-64 at $5,774,710 and $8,925,643 respectively. This total included gifts made during the successful fund raising campaign to build the Memorial Activities Center, now an important and extremely useful facility on the campus, as well as contributions for development of the Jules Stein Eye Institute.
San Francisco has benefitted greatly from continuing financial support over the years by virtue of the interest of philanthropists in medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, and nursing.
Actually, San Francisco grew through the transfer to the Regents on March 4, 1873, of a complete medical campus--The Toland Medical College in San Francisco--from Dr. H. H. Toland, a pioneer physician who had founded the original college bearing his name. It is now located on land donated by Adolph Sutro.
Two capital campaigns successfully concluded in recent years were the Post Graduate Dental Center drive begun in 1960 and the Francis I. Proctor Foundation project for research in ophthalmology begun in 1963. In the first of these campaigns, senior dental students participated, unhesitatingly, in making individual voluntary commitments of $1,000 each against future career earnings.
With the appointment of a gift officer in September of 1962, San Francisco planned for a stronger effort to obtain gifts through the alumni groups within the four professional schools at the Medical Center. Gift income at San Francisco from 1960-61 to 1964-65 averaged $1,853,408 per year.
Davis has been accepting private philanthropy for more than half a century, mainly as gifts-in-kind, but its development office did not come into existence until early in 1961. Four years later the campus reported a record $1.6 million in contributions. There were successive increases in all but one of the five years from 1960-61 to 1964-65. Average gift income per year over this span was $933,524. A sizable foundation grant plus a significant corporate gift are listed as among the outstanding benefactions Davis has received in more recent years. Early in 1965 Davis became the third campus to launch an annual alumni giving program. A Founder's Club with $1,000 gift memberships was organized within the Aggie Giving Program in 1965 and has been experiencing considerable success. In June, 1965 the club had 15 members.
Santa Barbara: With the transformation of Santa Barbara to a full-scale University campus, a special assistant to the chancellor was named in December of 1962 to direct and coordinate a program of private giving. Outstanding gifts received since that time include a large bequest for undergraduate scholarships, a prized collection of 20 rare oil paintings, and a major Ford Foundation grant. Annual gift income at Santa Barbara averaged $372,522 between 1960-65.
Riverside: Six years after the Regents converted Riverside into a general campus, a gift office was established and a gift officer was on the scene by February of 1965. Riverside is one of two campuses which can point to consecutive increases in annual totals from 1960-61 to 1964-65. During these years annual gift income increased from $273,392 to $796,632 for an average of $483,439 per year.
Irvine, San Diego, and Santa Cruz: Among the chancellor's first acts at Irvine was the appointment of a gift officer on May 1, 1963. Perhaps as important a gift as Irvine will ever receive is that of the 1,000 acres of prime land which the Regents accepted from the Irvine Company on July 22, 1960. Despite its relatively late start, by 1964-65 this campus had received $100,934 in private support, while showing successive annual increases in gift totals from 1960-61 through 1964-65.
San Diego accepted 1,035 acres of very choice land as a joint gift from the federal government and the city and county of San Diego upon which to build the University's southernmost campus. With the appointment of a gift officer, San Diego officially embarked on an active gifts and endowments program on February 1, 1965. The average annual gift income at San Diego rose to $217,629 during 1964-65.
On July 1, 1965, Santa Cruz became the ninth campus to appoint a gift officer. The private support needs of Santa Cruz are and will continue to be quite extensive since major gifts have been required from the very outset to help fund each of the resident colleges, which will be the basis of this coastal campus. The first of these, Cowell College, had already been endowed through a grant of $925,000 from the S. H. Cowell Foundation. During 1964-65 this novel campus received $984,994 from a number of private sources. Some 25 to 40 additional colleges await their construction and development.--PAUL CHRISTOPULOS
REFERENCES: William Ferrier, Origin and Development of the University of California (Berkeley, 1930); Gifts for Lands and Buildings; Endowed Chairs of Learning; Endowed Scholarships and Fellowships; Gifts; Free Enterprise and University Research; Sterling Dow, Fifty Years of Sathers; Office of Secretary of Regents, University of California Lands; Compilation of Annual Gift Totals, 1901-60; Annual Summary fo Gifts and Grants, Private Sources, 1961-65; Robert M. Underhill, History and Development of Gifts and Endowment Program.
Courtesy of University Archives, The Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-6000; http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/info
http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb4v19n9zb&brand=oac4
Title: [1967] The Centennial Record of the University of California
By: Stadtman, Verne A, Author, Centennial Publications Staff, Author
Date: 1967
Contributing Institution: University Archives, The Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-6000; http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/info
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