Total privatization sounds like a fine idea.
When I was a graduate student at UVA thirty years ago, Mr. Jefferson was revered by all. My guess is that the big donors are mostly wealthy, successful old alumni from that era. Odd that they take so little interest in what their money pays for.
“Odd that they take so little interest in what their money pays for.”
This alumnus stopped giving about 5 years ago after two incidents:
1) The Dean of the College, in her blog, lauded Teddy Kennedy at the time of his death, comparing him to Thomas Jefferson as a great statesman.
2) At an alumni gathering I asked the current President, Ms. Sullivan, about her position on the single sanction honor system which was under attack by a large minority of students. She would not respond, directing me instead to one of her subordinates. The assistant, with a very politically correct academic title I no longer remember, explained to me many minority students and foreign students do not share the same cultural values a single sanction reinforces. She suggested I be sensitive to the blending of cultures occurring in our society and the fact the University has be more flexible to attract students from diverse backgrounds. A single sanction may be inconsistent with a multicultural community.
I did not receive a response from my letter to the university administration advising them of my decision to redirect my charitable annual contribution and remove a legacy endowment from my estate. The administration’s subsequent handling of the recent Rolling Stone fiasco has only confirmed my decision to no longer support financially the school I once treasured.
Unfortunately those with much larger wallets than I continue to fund the school and make up for the declining contributions from the state. As long as they subsidize the progressive agenda of the current academic leaders, and the Democrat governor continues to appoint leftists to the board of visitors, the school will continue its evolution into another elitist socialist indoctrination center.