The economic position of the College dominated the Faculty Meeting discussion last night, with Treasurer Peter Shea reporting a negative 20.1 percent endowment return, rather than the projected negative 30 percent loss. This leaves the current endowment at $1.3 billion, a significant reduction from last year’s $1.7 billion. Before signs of the current economic crisis surfaced, the College had anticipated that its endowment would be $500 million larger than it is today.
The news on the endowment loss wasn’t universally welcomed, with several faculty members voicing concern that the current cutbacks of $37 million, adopted after the recommendations by the Advisory Budgetary Committee (ABC), are not adequate to sustain the College in the long term.
Marx was careful to temper the positive news with a word of caution, telling the faculty “we must remain mindful of the wider context” and that “this process [of budget considerations] will be ongoing” with committees such as the Faculty Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid (FCAFA) being asked to “recommend further refinements in financial aid.”
He also stressed the unpredictability of the economic future, saying that “anything is possible,” and, thus, nothing could be promised. “We have made progress on budget adjustments and will assess the need for any further changes in coming months and years ... We will continue to make small adjustments, but must not act hastily either to cut off access that might reduce the quality and diversity of our student body, or to abandon an educational model that has proven powerful over almost two centuries.”
Despite the hundred-million dollar loss, Amherst fared well this past year relative to comparable institutions. Harvard University recorded a loss of 27.3 percent and Stanford and Yale Universities both lost 30 percent. Fellow NESCAC institutions Williams’ endowment decreased by 22.2 percent, and Bowdoin’s decreased by 17 percent.
Marx also used the meeting as an opportunity to address the concerns students and other members of the College community have voiced concerning the controversial faculty-signed letter regarding further cuts to financial aid that primarily took place over this past summer.
“I was saddened that some students saw the faculty letter to the Board this summer as suggesting that some faculty did not appreciate all students at Amherst, and I know that is absolutely not what our colleagues meant,” Marx said near the end of his address to the faculty. “As a campus with a strong commitment to our shared ideals, I know that we will find a way to discuss policy choices, to guarantee both access and educational quality, without personalizing the debate.”
Toward the end of the meeting, another piece of good news was reported to the faculty. The Lives of Consequence Campaign is now entering into its second year, raising $242 million thus far and an alumni participation rate of 60.1 percent, with 84 percent of the graduating class of 2009 contributing.