Dear Editor,
In response to Danika Kleiber's Op-Ed from Feb. 11, "The art of giving," I'd like to formally congratulate her on her new job and for caring enough to practice the art of philanthropy, regardless of where her dollars are directed. She, like many young alumni including myself, loved her experience at Tufts. While I cannot speak for Danika, I know many of us feel a sense of gratitude upon graduating, especially when we receive our first real paycheck.
As someone who has asked similar questions about where my first paycheck should be distributed, I'd like to clear up the confusion as to exactly where Danika's gift to the university would go. When she, or any other of the great majority of our nearly 15,000 supporters, makes her gift to Tufts, her generosity supports the annual fund. The university-wide annual fund is a mostly unrestricted $17 million fund that is never invested in our endowment and is spent immediately on the university's most pressing needs. The money Danika would donate is channeled directly into the student experience here on campus — expanding the quality of our student services and programs, recruiting and retaining outstanding faculty, improving classrooms and libraries and helping our athletic programs. Most importantly, the annual fund provides financial aid to our students, which has contributed to our undergraduate admissions being need-blind each of the past two years. Any investment in Tufts University, especially a gift to the annual fund, will prove to be a great investment because it supports Tufts' greatest assets: our students and faculty.
Broad participation by Danika, me and our fellow alumni sends a message to today's students and faculty that we care about their experience and are grateful for our own. Each generation of Tufts students has provided for the next. As an alumnus who now works for Tufts, I am proud to support, and ask others to support, our students and our alma mater.
Sincerely,
David Frew
Class of 2004
Assistant Director
Tufts Fund for Arts, Sciences and Engineering
