Sophia Gordon Hall will soon be the latest example of a prominently named building on campus. But dorms are not the only thing with a nameplate plastered across the side. The University allows everything from reference desks in the new music building to trees around campus to be named - for the right price.
As the University prepares for its upcoming Capital Campaign, the Office of University Advancement is now evaluating the amount of money donors must give to receive name recognition.
"The rule of thumb is that a donor must contribute at least 50 percent of the total cost of the building for naming recognition," said Betsey Jay, Director of Advancement Communications and Donor Relations.
Donors can give at least $50,000 to endow a scholarship and $100,000 to establish a student loan fund. It costs a
minimum of $1.5 million to endow an existing professorship and $2 million to endow a new one. Named Library Resource and Book Funds cost $25,000.
There are about 37 endowed professorships in the School of Arts, Sciences and Engineering, one in the School of Dental Medicine, ten in the Fletcher School, 24 in the School of Medicine, four in the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and four in the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.
The "Giving to Tufts" Web site also lists suggested naming opportunities that will be part of the new music building. These range from $1 million for the music center courtyard and the Music Learning Center to $10,000 for the Music Library reading tables and $5,000 for its reference desks.
"As buildings come into being, like the music building, we identify areas where people could be recognized for their help," Jay said. "Some spaces are a little more public and glamorous than others, and this new music building is going to have a lovely interest rate."
Other options include naming trees on campus.
"You can actually have trees named - with a little plate with a person's name, which can also be a memorial gift," Jay said. Trees cost $1,000 and are placed on the Hill or around campus.
John Bello (LA '68), the co-founder of the SoBe Beverage Company, and his wife, Nancy Bello (J '69), gave $1 million last year to build Bello Field, the all-weather turf field behind the baseball field.
Bello played football while at Tufts, "and I think the athletic facilities at the time - 1964, 1965 - were second rate," he said. "No school as good academically as Tufts should have antiquated facilities."
Bello has been on the Board of Overseers for Athletics since the mid-1980s. He helped raise money for the fitness center and other projects. "I don't want any prospective students to look at Tufts and make the decision not to go because the facilities are not competitive," he said.
University President Lawrence Bacow asked the Bellos if they would be the major donors for the construction of a new turf field, and they agreed.
"I thought Tufts ought to keep pace with other universities and have its own turf field," Bello said. "If you build it, the athletes will come."
University Advancement is now assessing which minimums might be raised, and by how much.
The entire amount of a donation does not go immediately toward the designated project. "An endowment gift is a gift that is basically put into a savings account, and only a portion of the interest earnings are used to support whatever the donor designates," Jay said.
For a professorship, the required $2 million might generate something between $70-80,000 in funds. "So we have to look at what it takes to bring in a new professor," she said.
The University might need new equipment or a lab, or to set up a support system for the professor. "We also have to look ahead at the cost of living, at the cost of recruiting top faculty - because professorships are very distinguished appointments," Jay said.
For endowed scholarships, she said, tuition and other factors are always changing, so "we have to always be sure of how much it costs to do a full scholarship."
A look at the "Giving to MIT" Web site reveals some differences in endowment minimums. At MIT, the minimum for an endowed professorship is currently $3 million, and a fully funded endowed scholarship is at least $250,000. It is also $300,000 for a named, renovated classroom.
It also costs $3 million to endow a professorship at Harvard Law School, and $250,000 to establish a named scholarship. The school's giving site also suggests $100 million to rename the entire Harvard Law Library, and $10 million to rename its reading room.
Jay said the University might consider adding named deanships to its endowment possibilities. No price changes have yet been decided upon.
Once University Advancement settles on any endowment minimums that it feels should be made, the Trustees must approve changes, said Linda Dixon, the Secretary of the Corporation.
"One day in the next 12 months, we will raise the bar" for endowment opportunities, Dixon said.
Jay agreed with Dixon's estimate. "I can probably assure you that by a year from now, we'll have a shopping list of considerable length," she said. "There will be a lot of campaign activity."
