The Justice

Orientation leader Olga Golovanova '10 helps a first-year unload his belongings on Opening Sunday. Sara Brandenburg/the Justice

The University set a new fundraising record for the second straight year, despite earlier reports which predicted that some donors would withhold gifts because of former President Jimmy Carter's highly controversial visit to campus last January.

Brandeis raised $89.4 million in cash donations for fiscal year 2007, topping last year's record of $81.3 million by 10 percent, according to numbers released July by the Office of Development and Alumni Relations. The largest contributions came from "friends" of the University, donors without alumni ties who gave $40.2 million, a $10.7 million increase from last year.

A report by The Jewish Week last February quoted now former trustee Stuart Eizenstat as saying that there were "more than a handful" of donors who informed the University that they would withhold their contributions because the school hosted Carter, whose book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," is critical of Israeli policy.

"I would urge Brandeis students not to believe everything they read in the papers," University President Jehuda Reinharz wrote in an e-mail to the Justice. "Instead, I would suggest that they believe in Brandeis, as do our supporters."

Nancy Winship, the senior vice president of institutional advancement, said no major donors withheld contributions because of Carter's visit.

"We answered every phone call, e-mail and letter, and because we did that and explained the University's position, [the Carter visit] became a non-issue," she said.

Malcolm Sherman, chair of the Board of Trustees, and Jonathan Davis '75, chair of the Board's Development Committee, also said they didn't know of any donors who withdrew their support to protest the Carter event.

"Brandeis stands strongly as a beacon of open dialogue, and that sometimes engenders controversy, but I think the [fundraising] record speaks for itself," Davis said.

Donations from friends accounted for 45 percent of the total gifts, nine percent more than last year. Reinharz attributed Brandeis' ability to attract non-alumni donors to its strong links to the Jewish community and its small size.

"The support from the Jewish community came to Brandeis from the very start and continues today," Reinharz wrote. "I also think our small size makes Brandeis a very approachable place. People can have a personal relationship with Brandeis, and individuals can make a big difference here."

Continued...

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