The University of Wisconsin-Madison's School of Business just got $50 million from donors not to NOT change the name of the school. Perhaps the University of Iowa's School of Public Health (and the Board of Regents) should tear a page out UW-M's playbook?
The AP report
When he became dean of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business in 2002, Michael Knetter went looking for a big donor, someone who would give $50 million in exchange for putting their name on the school.
No one was interested.
So, Knetter decided to do something radical: find contributors willing to pay to keep the school's name off the market.
After years of conversations, 13 alumni announced last month that they were giving $85 million in exchange for assurances that the business school would not be named for any donor for at least 20 years.
It's the biggest donation in university history, and it comes at a time when stadiums, buildings and whole colleges elsewhere are being named for the highest bidder.
"It is an unprecedented act of selfless philanthropy. I don't know of another case where anything remotely like this has taken place and I hope it is the start of a trend," said Terry Hartle, senior vice president for the American Council on Education. "It's the most interesting development in philanthropy I've seen in the last year."
Rae Goldsmith, a spokeswoman for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, called the gift "an unusual take on a long tradition."
"It's certainly a new and very generous approach," she said.
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