Winter Term Class Receives $100,000 Grant

Winter term provides students with numerous opportunities to take courses that go beyond the normal classroom experience. While many instructors become more creative with their teaching methods, one class this winter term has been given $100,000 to aid in the learning process.

Philanthropy, Ethics and Practice, an interdisciplinary course taught by Assistant Professor of Political Science Sarah Stroup and Assistant Professor of Philosophy Steven Viner, is a course aimed at discussing what philanthropy means and understanding the social purposes of charities, among other topics.

Last spring, the College was presented with the opportunity for the course from a Texas-based, anonymous foundation that seeks to support more coursework and campus involvement on philanthropic giving. The foundation was willing to give the class $100,000 or $50,000, depending on the number of students in the class.

Stroup and Viner were able to secure 21 students for the class — the requirement for the larger grant. Stroup says the College was approached by the foundation and that obtaining the grant was a much easier process than usual.

“This was really money falling out of the sky,” said Stroup. “We are really aware of how little work we had to do to create this opportunity.”

Despite the fact that students are working with a large sum of money, Viner and Stroup want to keep the project driven by students, as students will decide which charity or charities the money will go.

“We are trying to involve the students as much as possible in the decision-making procedures about where the money will go and how much money will go to an organization,” said Viner. “The students will decide the method, procedure and allocation as much as possible.”

So far, the class has had guest speakers from two charity evaluators, including givingwhatwecan.org and givewell.org. By way of speakers, lectures and readings, the students have been learning how best to evaluate charities. Charities will be evaluated based on administrative costs, the cause, how they deliver to recipients and other important factors.

The foundation awarded the grant to a number of other colleges and universities across the country including Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Michigan and Virginia. While these institutions teach the course over the length of the semester, as of yet, the College is only offering the course over winter term. The brevity of winter term poses another challenge unique to the College’s version of the course.

“At all of those other universities or colleges, the course is being taught over the course of the semester,” said Stroup. “So they have a lot of time to get in touch with the charities. We don’t have the luxury of time during J-Term. So just as money fell in our laps, it will more or less fall into [a charity’s] lap.”

To work efficiently, the class has been divided into multiple research groups. During the final week of winter term, each group will give a final presentation on a charity. The class will then decide where to allocate the $100,000, whether it is to one or divided among all the charities.

Viner believes that having real money to work with brings another important component of learning to the classroom.

“There is both a sense of responsibility in being able to have the money and thinking about who they can help,” said Viner. “The tangible, experiential component I think has brought some enthusiasm to the academic investigation.”

Luke Martinez ’14 says that through all of the class’s research, they will be able to donate to a cause that they believe can do the most with the money.

“This is a fantastic opportunity from a very generous donor, a terrific experience and a chance for the class to explore the non-profit sector,” said Martinez.

As of now, there are no plans for the class to be offered again during winter term or the regular semester. At the end of winter term, the class will be evaluated, and it is possible that the grant may be renewed, therefore giving other students the opportunity to take the course in the future.