Harvard said “No, thanks.” So did Stanford, Princeton and Yale.
Regardless of the pressures that either institution faced, or their reasons, they set an example for institutions of higher learning able to receive relief aid in the $2.2 trillion package passed by Congress.
Our hope is for everyone to act responsibly during the coronavirus pandemic. Help is needed in many places, and we wish for money that does come to reach those of greatest need.
The red, white and blue is in an economic freefall. So is the rest of the world.
We applaud the forever gridlocked politicians inside the Beltway for getting assistance out as quickly as they did. Though it seemed to snail pace at the end over details, just as another package has done this week, “Congress” and “quick” just do not go together. This was historic in size and swiftness.
Within the rescue package was $14 billion for the nation’s colleges and universities. Harvard’s share was to be $8.7 million, as determined by the Education Department. The school has an endowment worth nearly $40 billion. With a “B.” Stanford’s endowment is nearly $28 billion, so it’s reasonable the need for another $7.4 million in Palo Alto was no more than in Cambridge.
Credit colleges asking that their share be directed within their states. Harvard wanted it to go elsewhere in Massachusetts, Yale the same in Connecticut.
The schools have their reasons for declining, and though they are not as simple as “doing the right thing,” we certainly need more of that.
The Paycheck Protection Program became a poster child for not doing the right thing. With no oversight other than the nation’s highest-ranking politician, companies with thousands of employees and some that were not even registered in the U.S. were able to get their greedy paws on part of the original $349 billion. An Associated Press probe discovered at least 75 large enough to be publicly traded, among them some with market values exceeding $100 million, applied and received multiple millions of dollars.
Let that sink in when driving down the used-to-be-busy 100 block of West Broad Street in Elizabethtown.
To be fair, some will be paying part of that money back.
There are educational institutions sorely in need of financial assistance. Urbana University, a small school of about 1,200 students in Ohio already in financial trouble in recent years, has closed — meaning everything, and for good.
That’s harsh, but nothing is off limits. Professional sports leagues and their franchises are furloughing and laying off employees, none too big to fail.
Parts of the economy, just like individuals, have better wherewithal than others. As America gets through this crisis — and we do know we will — our hope is for everyone to act responsibly.
Let’s do our part to get, and allow, help where it is needed most.