News Release (April 24, 1968)

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/NEWS RELEASE NEW COLLEGE SARASOTA, FLORIDA 33578 1 174 -4/23/68 813 / 355-7131 Ref.: Furman c. Arthur WITH FORD GRANT STORY FOR RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 1968 The $600,000 grant to New College by the Ford Foundation was characterized by President John Elmendorf today as "not the largest gift New College has received, but the most significant." "This grant is a demonstration of faith in us by a group of knowledgeable people who have become convinced that this young institution has something important to say and do on the national education scene," said Dr. Elmendorf. "The officers of the Ford Foundation are not influenced by sentiment or vague hopes, but by results. They are saying that they are impressed by the early results of our innovational approach to undergraduate education," said the president. He noted that the grant is the first large gift toward operating expenses by a national foundation. As such, he said, it constitutes a seal of approval by an organization that has had long experience in identifying and encouraging educational excellence throughout the nation. "However, it would be illusory to imagine that the foundation's $600,000 has solved our financial problems," Dr. Elmendorf candidly. more

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NEW COLLEGE Page 2 Already, he noted, the college community has been warned that rather than signaling a period of prosperity and the financing of cherished educational projects for faculty and students, the Ford grant points up the critical financial needs of the college. "The real benefit to be derived from an incentive grant of this type goes far beyond the face value of the grant," said Dr. Elmendorf. "The Ford Foundation, in effect, has given us a $600,000 endorsement, and that endorsement is going to stimulate giving by others. "The multiplying effect of a large Ford Foundation grant has been demonstrated at numerous colleges throughout the country in recent years," said President Elmendorf. "If I did not believe the same thing would happen here, I would have urged the trustees to refuse the grant. They did not feel, nor did I, that we would be ethically justified in accepting Ford support if its only likely effect would have been to allow us to liquidate New College gracefully." He said that financially, the current year has been the most difficult the college has faced yet, and he said he thought the most difficult one the college is likely to face. In September 1967, he recounted, college officials knew they would have to obtain at least $1.3 million in new gifts and grants to meet the year's budget needs. That goal has almost been met, with the help of the Ford grant, but he said that despite every economy possible, the coming year would be almost equally demanding, calling for $800,000 in new support to meet the basic needs of the college. more -

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NEW COLLEGE Page 3 "After that, the income gain from increased enrollment, combined with our strengthened support programs, should reduce the continuing fund raising job to more easily manageable proportions," forecast Dr. Elmendorf. "It's never going to be easy to make ends meet at a school like this. Our trustees, our friends and all of us have to accept the fact that high quality education is relatively high cost education," said the president. "But, high cost does not mean extravagance. Without sacrificing any of the essential elements of our educational program, we are going to practice the strictest economies possible." The Ford grant, he suggested, gives the college reason to face the future with real confidence, but also underlines the necessity that the college be productively innovative in the area of educational costs as it is in all other areas of its activities. 30 -