Generous grants for the privileged

Walter M. Kimbrough, over at Inside Higher Ed, criticizes the practice of the wealthy giving grants to prestigious private universities following the recent announcement that John Kluge has pledged $400 million to Columbia University.

So the colleges with the greatest wealth and the best of everything that money can buy (from faculty to facilities), not only are underrepresented with poor students, but also restrict minority students from accessing these resources. If public universities can be called “gated communities of higher education,” private universities like Columbia are easily the country clubs.

America’s so-called philanthropists ignore these facts, and we continue to laud their generosity to the privileged. At the same time, people of color continue to fall further and further behind, and unless we begin to help those who actually need help, America’s economy will suffer.

Hat tip to Minding The Campus.