Much has been made of the Supreme Court’s recent decision striking down affirmative action in college admissions. A new complaint takes aim at other admission advantages — “legacy applicants” who are related to alumni or big donors.
Filed with the U.S. Department of Education, the complaint alleges Harvard University is in violation of federal law because of its “discriminatory practice of giving preferential treatment in the admissions process to applicants with familial ties to wealthy donors and alumni [legacy applicants].”
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To drive home that point, the complaint quotes the recent Supreme Court ruling: “College admissions are zero-sum, and a benefit provided to some applicants but not to others necessarily advantages the former at the expense of the latter.”
But would telling donors their gifts will have no impact on admissions drive down donations to colleges? Some fundraising consultants say it wouldn’t be a bad thing.
“I don’t think it would have a terribly significant impact,” says Laura MacDonald, principal and founder of the Benefactor Group, a fundraising consultancy that works with colleges and universities.
She says some fundraisers would be happy to have family admissions off the table when dealing with donors. “The reality is that most progressive departments try to nurture relationships with their donors based on alignment of values and priorities and not that sort of transactional flow.”
Karin George, a managing partner at the consultancy Washburn & McGoldrick, notes that even though the complaint says legacy admissions primarily benefit white students, she believes that legacies influence donors and students across the racial spectrum. She says Black, Hispanic, and other alumni of color often support their alma maters as well. “I worry a little bit about a narrative that defines legacy admission so narrowly,” George says.
But even if the department determines that admissions based on ties to alumni or wealthy donors are illegal, George says it should not be viewed as a bad thing for fundraising departments. It could be a big opportunity.
“We have to check our assumptions and understand that philanthropy happens in lots and lots of communities and neighborhoods,” she says. “The notion that this might affect some donors in philanthropy somehow ignores the fact that it can also open the door to many new donors who are excited that institutions are trying to be more equitable, even in the face of really, really tough legal decisions.”
