Part 1 of 2

I don’t know why the letter from Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton about the impact of the economic crisis on Washington University makes me so angry, but it does.

For starters, this line stands out: “But this Thanksgiving season will be difficult for many, and I am concerned about the hardships members of our community are facing, including our students and their families.”

Right. The “hardships” of a bunch of slick piggy-bank backed lawyers, doctors whose risky investments in the stock market—guided by the ringed hands of their brother-in-laws or best friends who ALSO graduated from Wash. U. with a Master in Finance—have led to double-digit drops in their portfolios. Chancellor Wrighton should really be discussing the hardships of the valets at Frontenac luxury shopping mall and the tie and perfume sellers at the Nieman Marcus who are heartbroken because they haven’t recently seen the astringent-wiped, plastic fixed faces of Wash. U. parents.

What about the thousands of impoverished people—blacks in the urban cities and whites in the rural areas around St. Louis—who have been facing “hardships” for the last five decades? The people who don’t understand the terms “bailout” or “inflation” or “recession” but are just as, or even more-so, drastically affected by them none the less?

I’m truly sorry that the turkey this year will still be hot, that the stuffing will still be moist, the cranberries cold, the pumpkin pie sweet and that someone might have to spend half a day in the kitchen cooking it instead of catering it from an egregiously expensive restaurant somewhere. I’m really, truly, sorry about that. But in the cases of non-Wash. U. families, this “financial crisis” has not changed anything at all.

The almost entirely black staff at the Subway on campus will continue to get paid the same minimum wage salary and will be unable to take tips from the students under the direction of the very white manager; the children in the Clinton-Peabody projects—10 minutes away from Wash. U.—will still have Dorritos and orange soda to celebrate; but those aren’t the workers or families who contribute millions to an endowment of billions—so unfortunately, they won’t make the letter today.

In case you’re terrified at the 25 percent drop, you can look to last year’s story on the endowment from our own wonderfully-mediocre Student Life, which reported, “Washington University’s endowment topped the $5 billion mark for the first time in its history, marking a significant increase over the 2006 fiscal year…The increase represents a 20.1 percent return, the largest return on the University’s endowment since the endowment increased 23.1 percent, from $2.8 billion to $3.45 billion, in the 1998 fiscal year.”

If Wash. U. gained 23 percent of its endowment in the last year and it has lost a tragic 25 percent because of the financial crisis, doesn’t that only total a net loss of 2 percent in the last year? Isn’t that quite standard for taking “bets” on anything, from Las Vegas to the stock market? Actually, I think it’s quite a bit better. So, maybe we shouldn’t be stepping onto ledges quite yet…

But here’s my favorite part, and, I suspect, one of the chief purposes of making sure this letter reached EVERY Wash. U. student, alumni, and parent all the way to me, making less than American minimum wage, here in Changchun, China.

Wrighton writes, “I have discussed these matters with the Chair of the Board of Trustees, and I proposed and will implement a reduction of my own salary by 5% effective January 1, 2009 and another 5% reduction effective July 1, 2009.”

This is the part where students and parents all over melt like gummy bears in oatmeal. The Chancellor is CUTTING his salary! Can you believe it? No, I can’t. I can believe that the total of his salary was not mentioned in the letter. But I am still incredulous despite my best intentions. Why 10 percent interspersed between six months? I guess you need time to adjust to your brand new lifestyle—elegant speaking engagements and meetings with heads of state turned to buying razors at Wal-Mart. You need to soften the blows from paying someone to pick up your groceries at Whole Foods and adjust walking over to Schnucks to pick up cans of beans and pork.

I think I’m going to write an e-mail to Chancellor Wrighton and explain to him my current situation. Not only will I not be able to contribute any of my yuan to Wash. U. in its desperate crisis, but I actually need a little money myself. I feel that I am entitled to more after-graduation assistance—the ten thousand cups of frozen custard served outside of Brookings right after the ceremony doesn’t cut it in this day and age—especially with this sharply down-turning economy. So, I will humbly request that Chancellor Wrighton only reduce his salary by 4 percent in the coming months, and grant me the amount of that insignificant 1 percent.

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Tags: chancellor wrighton, endowment, letter

This entry was posted on Friday, November 21st, 2008 at 3:37 pm and is filed under Forum, Op-Ed Submission. You can follow any responses to this entry through this feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.