NORTHRIDGE – It arrived on campus in a plain white, No. 10 envelope, mixed in with the daily collection of invoices, fliers and other junk in the regular mail.
Inside the envelope: a check for $5 million.
The gift mailed to California State University, Northridge recently is one of the biggest the campus has ever received – and nobody knows who sent it. The anonymous donor, using a bank based in Scottsdale, Ariz., simply requested that it be used for student assistance and scholarships.
“It is one of the most remarkable gifts I have personally had the pleasure to be a part of,” said CSUN vice president Vance Peterson. “It really is humbling and inspiring.”
The donation is the largest anonymous gift the campus has ever received, and one of its largest ever.
CSUN President Jolene Koester said the money will be placed into the college’s endowment – now at $75 million – to fund scholarships for incoming students who show high academic achievement and financial need.
“We have students who need aid and (we) want to respond to those students’ needs,” Koester said.
College officials did have some advance warning of the gift, but they weren’t sure whether to believe it.
About a week before the check arrived, Peterson received a call from an Arizona banker who said a customer was planning to make a large gift to the school.
“My reaction went from stunned silence to skepticism,” Peterson said.
“The thought that someone was pulling my leg did cross my mind.”
When the multimillion-dollar check arrived a week later, the reaction quickly went from disbelief to “absolute euphoria,” Peterson said.
Other big, but identified, donations to CSUN have included:
Music-industry executive Mike Curb gave $10 million for a new communications building and the Valley Performing Arts Center.
A Valley couple, Mary and Jack Bayramian, donated their $7.3 million estate to the school in 2005.
In 2002 Hollywood executive Michael Eisner gave the school $7million to start a new teacher-training program.
Ronald Tseng also gave the college a gift of rare Chinese artifacts appraised at $38 million, although the authenticity of the items was put in question a few years ago when it was reported that the items could be fakes.
The popularity of anonymous gifts has increased sharply throughout the country in recent years. In 2007, the Chronicle of Philanthropy tracked $1.1 billion in large anonymous gifts to nonprofits – more than had been given anonymously the two previous years combined.
About two-thirds of those gifts were offered to colleges and universities, including several in excess of $100 million.
Students and officials at CSUN agree the gift comes at a fortunate time. This year the school has seen a growth of almost 60 percent in financial aid requests.
While the donation will be used to fund scholarships, those will not kick in until next year. The current financial need of students coupled with rising tuition and fees led some students to wonder if the funds could be used for more immediate help.
“We have been talking about the lack of money in higher education and the governor’s budget is not looking any better for next year,” said Dina Cervantes, a CSUN student majoring in family studies and child development.
“I understand we need scholarships but it’s also important to help offset the current needs students have. Can’t we help them get in and get out now?”
connie.llanos@dailynews.com 818-713-3634
