Endowment forum answers disappoint

Students who had been asking questions about the University’s endowment got some answers Wednesday night answers Wednesday night — but not the ones they were looking for.

At a forum, UNC Management Company CEO Jon King and Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Karol Gray presented to students about the structure and purpose of the endowment.

Tuition protestors had asked at a Board of Trustees meeting more than a year ago why the endowment wasn’t used to offset tuition hikes.

At the forum, Chancellor Holden Thorp said the endowment, which is composed primarily of private donations, must be spent according to the donors’ wishes.

“Almost all funds from the endowment are used for core functions like financial aid and faculty support,” Thorp said.

“The most important thing when a donor gives money is using the gift on what it’s intended for.”

Gray said 24 percent of the expenditure from the endowment for the 2012-13 fiscal year was spent on scholarships and fellowships, second only to the percentage spent on professorships.

Students at the forum asked what would need to happen for the University to increase the tuition payout from the endowment rather than raising tuition.

“It’d take a hell of a crisis to do that,” Thorp said.

The endowment is managed by UNC Management Company. Thorp said the decisions made by the company are not open to students.

“It’s a private company, and they are not required to have public meetings,” he said.

Katie Orndahl, media coordinator for the UNC Sierra Student Coalition, said after the forum that she wants to see more student involvement with the endowment.

“They didn’t seem willing to talk about what we have control over,” Orndahl said. “I think that the portion of the endowment that we do have control over needs more student involvement.”

She said students needed to know more about the money with flexibility in where it is invested.

Some students in attendance also brought up issues of clean energy. Thorp said some of the endowment money is invested in fossil fuels — and due to the nature of the endowment, that’s not likely to change.

Despite other students’ complaints, Student Body President Will Leimenstoll said he was excited by the discussion.

“It was a really good start to the dialogue,” Leimenstoll said.

He said the next step in continuing the dialogue lies with the Board of Trustees.

Katherine Shor, co-chairwoman of student government’s environmental affairs committee, said she wants students to keep up the pressure on administration for increased transparency.

“Continuing communication with these administrators is key,” she said.

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