My Philanthropic Priority

I received a letter from the Carleton Alumni association last Friday. It’s fairly common for Carleton to ask for donation but this time I am particularly aggravated.

The letter is signed by a B. Comm alumni living in the US.

“As a Carleton Alumni based in the United States, our lives and careers have moved us away from our alma mater, but I know many of us would still like to give back to our school. I’m writing to share with you how I choose to honour the time I spent in Ottawa by helping provide current students with the best resources to prepare them for their futures in Canada, the U.S. or abroad”.

New on campus is the Washington Center Internship Program. This program is designed to educate students from all disciplines about American politics, Canadian-American relations and the NAFTA relationship by giving them real-world experience in those areas. The internship is a unique opportunity for students to spend a semester in Washington –interning, learning, attending Congressional briefings and interacting with key players in the formulation of U.S. trade and foreign policy – and will be of incalculable benefits to Carleton students.

The kind of cutting-edge education offered by the Washington Center Internship Program is one of the reasons I choose to make Carleton a philanthropic priority. I know that my annual contributions will make a difference by developing critical and passionate thinkers who will have an impact in our ever-shrinking world.

Please join me in support of Carleton and make a gift of $500 to this new initiative…”

I find this plea for donation tactless on so many levels.

First, why would living in the U.S. make me sensitive to this cause?

Second, Canadian students are spoiled brats. People don’t realize how lucky they are to be born in Canada where there is minimal levels of corruption and poverty, free healthcare, and an almost free top-notch education system. Tuition fees account for only 20% of universities’ revenue. The real cost of tuition is over 20K/yr. Most teenagers living in developing countries would have been envious of my $25,000 student loan.

Third, I can think of many other programs that would have a bigger impact in the world. I literally gagged as I read that my $500 would go to develop “critical and passionate thinkers who will have an impact in our ever-shrinking world”.

Let me tell you why I am making Doctors Without Borders my philanthropic priority and NOT Carleton.

This is what Doctors Without Borders can do with $500:

• Serve 4000 nourishing meals; or
• Provide water for 40 refugees for 3 years; or
• Provide 17 surgical kits containing essential instruments to carry out emergency examinations and basic surgery in the field; or
• Provide nursing care for refugees from war or natural disaster for 8 months.

It’s a personal choice, but I rather feed 4,000 people than develop a G7 middle-class critical thinker.