The Modern University: Celebrating Students, Honoring Donors (#678)

Last week, I attended the annual Prize Night at the University of Sydney School of Veterinary Medicine.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

I was invited to the event as a donor, having contributed a scholarship in 2016 (The LeCouteur Family Scholarship - https://www.sydney.edu.au/scholarships/d/lecouteur-family-scholarship.html).

Scholarships and prizes were presented to students who had distinguished themselves through academic achievement, leadership and service.

Of the student scholarships, two were awarded in memory of Graham Jew, one of my Class of 1974 classmates (https://www.sydney.edu.au/scholarships/d/graham-frederick-ramsey-jew-scholarship.html).

Proud families celebrated their sons and daughters. Faculty members congratulated their students. Donors were acknowledged with genuine gratitude, and afterwards everyone gathered for a modest reception where students, parents, faculty and benefactors mingled over drinks and conversation.

As I sat in the auditorium, however, I found myself thinking about another veterinary school half a world away.

For more than twenty years I had the privilege of serving on the faculty of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, now renamed the Joan and Sanford I. Weill School of Veterinary Medicine.

During that time, I attended numerous scholarship ceremonies, donor receptions and fundraising events, including the annual Evening of Gratitude.

The comparison was unavoidable.

Although both schools are internationally respected, educate approximately the same number of veterinary students each year, and deeply value philanthropy, they celebrate generosity in remarkably different ways.

The difference is not one of money.

It is one of philosophy.

Similar Schools

The University of Sydney and UC Davis are more alike than many people realize.

Each enrolls roughly 120 to 150 veterinary students each year.

Both operate large teaching hospitals.

Both have distinguished research programs.

Both educate future leaders of the veterinary profession.

Both depend increasingly upon philanthropic support to advance teaching, research and clinical care.

Yet the culture surrounding philanthropy feels distinctly different.

University of Sydney: A Celebration of Students

The University of Sydney Prize Night revolved around one central idea:

These students have earned recognition.

Scholarships existed because donors had chosen to invest in veterinary education, but the evening itself belonged to the students.

The applause celebrated their achievements.

The photographs celebrated their success.

The speeches celebrated their future.

The donors were warmly thanked for making these opportunities possible, but they remained graciously in the background.

The institution itself remained the principal character in the story.

It was understated, dignified and unmistakably Australian.

UC Davis: A Celebration of Philanthropy

The UC Davis Evening of Gratitude shares many similarities.

Students receive scholarships.

Families celebrate.

Faculty attend.

Yet the emphasis is noticeably different.

The evening has been designed to celebrate the relationship between students and donors.

Scholarship recipients tell personal stories describing how financial support changed their lives.

Videos introduce students to the benefactors whose generosity made their education possible.

Donors and recipients often sit together.

The Dean repeatedly acknowledges the extraordinary impact of philanthropy on veterinary education.

Each year the School presents its Change Maker Award, honoring an individual whose philanthropy has transformed opportunities for veterinary students.

The message is unmistakable:

Great donors make great veterinary education possible.

It is a celebration not simply of scholarships, but of philanthropy itself.

The Scale of Philanthropy

The difference becomes even more apparent when one looks behind the scenes.

Today the UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine awards more than 700 scholarships and fellowships annually.

Nearly 500 veterinary and graduate students receive financial support each year.

Scholarship funding exceeds $4 million annually, supported by an endowment of more than $134 million and thousands of donors who have invested in veterinary education over many decades.

The School's fundraising success did not happen by accident.

It reflects decades of deliberate investment in philanthropy.

UC Davis maintains an extensive development organization dedicated specifically to the veterinary school.

Its professional staff include specialists in principal gifts, major gifts, annual giving, alumni relations, corporate partnerships, stewardship, donor communications and planned giving.

Together, roughly two dozen professionals work every day to build relationships with alumni, grateful clients, foundations and philanthropic families.

Fundraising is not simply something the School does.

It has become part of the School's identity.

The University of Sydney also values philanthropy and has professional advancement staff within the University.

However, the School of Veterinary Medicine has traditionally relied much more heavily upon public funding, with philanthropy serving as an important supplement rather than a defining institutional priority.

That difference helps explain the atmosphere of the two events.

Two Different Stories

Reflecting on both evenings, I realized that each institution was telling a different story.

At the University of Sydney, the story was about outstanding veterinary students.

Scholarships recognized excellence.

Donors made that excellence possible.

At UC Davis, the story was about extraordinary generosity.

Scholarships demonstrated the impact of philanthropy.

Students became living examples of what donor generosity could achieve.

The distinction may seem subtle, but it changes the entire character of the evening.

One celebrates student achievement.

The other celebrates the partnership between donors and students.

Neither philosophy is inherently better.

Both have much to admire.

Why It Matters

Veterinary education has become increasingly expensive.

Teaching hospitals require continual investment.

Research depends upon sophisticated facilities and highly trained faculty.

Students graduate with significant financial pressures.

No veterinary school can ignore philanthropy.

Indeed, philanthropy has transformed veterinary medicine in the United States.

The recent US$120 million gift to the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine - the largest donation in the history of veterinary medicine - is only the most visible example of what private generosity can accomplish.

Australian veterinary schools are likely to follow the same path as public funding becomes more constrained.

The important question is not whether they should embrace philanthropy.

Of course they should.

The more interesting question is whether they should also embrace the American culture surrounding philanthropy.

Should major gifts reshape institutional identity?

Should donor recognition become a defining feature of university life?

Or should philanthropy remain, as it traditionally has in Australia, an important means of supporting students while allowing the institution itself - and its students - to remain the central focus?

A Personal Reflection

Watching the University of Sydney Prize Night reminded me why universities exist.

Universities exist for students.

Donors make those opportunities possible, and their generosity deserves sincere recognition.

Without them, many scholarships, research programs and clinical facilities simply would not exist.

But I left the University of Sydney Prize Night with the feeling that the evening belonged to the students.

I often left the UC Davis Evening of Gratitude with the feeling that the evening belonged equally to the donors.

Both traditions are worthy of respect.

Both have strengthened veterinary education.

As Australian veterinary schools increasingly look to American models of fundraising, perhaps the challenge is not to choose between them but to combine their greatest strengths:

To build a culture of philanthropy capable of transforming veterinary education while ensuring that the ultimate heroes of every celebration remain the students whose futures those gifts help create.

That may prove to be the most valuable lesson I carried home from an evening in Sydney, and from over twenty years in Davis.

Further Reading

Philanthropy at Work. Celebrating a Legacy of Exceptional Care and Innovation. https://synergy.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/news-article-fall-2023/philanthropy-work

Evening of Gratitude. https://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/tags/evening-gratitude

Our Giving Team. https://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/giving/about-us/development-staff

UC Davis’ Record $676M Fundraising Year Marks New Era of Philanthropy. Historic Donor Support More Than Doubled the University's Fundraising Record, Anchored by Two Landmark Gifts to Veterinary Medicine. https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/uc-davis-record-676m-fundraising-year-marks-new-era-philanthropy?fbclid=IwY2xjawTFJotleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeFST62t9peiJwFy0QsmUiSotNBr_9e3p_jRfFZjjDowEn-ckmC2Cs6st2uxs_aem_X1Ii3poXsqh7LUCsJX-4tw

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