Considering that Jeremy Lin got a 3.1 GPA at Harvard, and something like 80-90% of Harvard students graduate with some sort of honors (cutoff was 3.472 in 2010), maybe he's not as smart as the media makes him out to be.
I recently read somewhere in the Dish that only smart players do well in D'Antoni's system. That's Linsanity.
Pretty sure if you rub shoulders with those who donate you're going to be fine in life. You donate to be around others who donate.
Tuition doesn't fully cover the costs of running a university at a level that provides a proper education in usable, clean facilities. A lot of that money comes from research grants, probably a shrinking portion from the government and of course alumni donations. I think the rationale for donating to colleges is pretty clear if you run a large corporation, or work high enough in government or economics to understand the very concrete staffing requirements of doctors, engineers, agronomic and environmental scientists just to keep our basic infrastructure and human ecology afloat. Particularly at a county or state level in a sparsely populated part of the country, there are pretty serious implications to not having a minimum ratio of MD/DDS and STEM personnel on call or working full time. Separately if you grew up poor and/or an immigrant or minority, you recognize the extent to which your college education leveled the playing field for your own potential and want to keep those avenues open going forward.
I think the students certainly appreciate the scholarships. Tuition will probably be around $300k for four years in the next generation or two, you can't risk losing smart or ambitious 18-25 year olds by shutting out the entire middle class.
Then why doesn't Harvard give out more? They have a $50B endowment? They have a fixed number of admission slots. They aren't going to increase admissions. Do they really need Jeremy Lin's money to help them give students' financial aid. The point Malcom Gladwell is making is that the $1m can go to Jeremy Lin personal foundation for High School students who make it to an Elite school to get help paying for it. For Instance.... Harvard doesn't need the money.
How long is Harvard supposed to survive as an operating entity, if they're just living off of interest or investment returns like the Permanent University Fund, $50 Billion seems like a reasonable amount to ensure top facilities and competitive compensation for Law School and Medical School personnel alone.
