The University of Notre Dame is the latest blue chip school set to receive federal stimulus money despite sitting on a whopping $13.3 billion endowment.
The South Bend, Indiana, Catholic school is set to receive $5.7 million and said it plans to spend it on financial aid for students in families financially hit by the coronavirus crisis.
But in a letter sent Thursday, Indiana Sen. Mike Braun urged the school to tap its huge endowment instead, arguing that the federal money is a drop in the bucket for the school and is needed elsewhere.
“The University of Notre Dame is set to receive nearly $6 million, an amount equivalent to less than .06% of the university’s endowment,” wrote the senator, a Catholic.
He argued that other schools with endowments over $10 billion, including Stanford University, Harvard University, Yale University, and the University of Pennsylvania, have refused the money and that Notre Dame should also.
“It is my hope that all universities with endowments over $10 billion use their endowments instead of a government handout to address the COVID-19 crisis. As the University of Notre Dame possesses such an endowment, I ask that you consider forgoing the stimulus money so it can be redistributed to other schools that have an acute need for these emergency financial aid funds. In this way, we can help even more students who are currently facing financial hardships due to this crisis,” the Republican senator said in the letter to Rev. John I. Jenkins, the university’s president.
Asked for a reaction to Braun’s letter, spokesman Dennis K. Brown said, “Notre Dame never applied for and will not accept any funding under the CARES Act.”
Last week, the school said in a statement, “University of Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., earlier today directed that federal funding related to coronavirus relief and received by the University be used exclusively for direct financial aid to students whose families have been struck by unemployment or otherwise upended by the pandemic.”
Several colleges and universities are slated to get part of the $14 billion set aside in the coronavirus stimulus package for education.
In a recent press release, the university bragged about the size of its endowment, noting that it grew from $425 million in 1988 to $13.3 billion now.
“Translation: Notre Dame’s endowment has grown 30 times the size it was 30 years ago. Let that sink in a minute,” said the release.
In ending his letter, Braun made his case citing a verse from the Bible.
“As a lifelong Catholic, I know we share similar values of charity. It is in Proverbs 19:17 that says, ‘Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.’ The University of Notre Dame is already financially equipped to help its students during these trying times. By returning funds, we are able to help even more students who are struggling,” he wrote.
