In our March 2024 article in eJewishPhilanthropy, “American Jewish philanthropists should put their own oxygen masks on first,” we argued that in the wake of Oct. 7, Jewish philanthropists should focus a larger portion of their giving on priorities of Jewish self-preservation. We also urged them to do their due diligence to ensure that their donations do not ultimately harm Jews. 

The article did not specifically address university giving, and several philanthropists responded to us with questions about their support for higher education. This is not surprising, given that educational excellence is so treasured in the Jewish community and understandably a major beneficiary of our philanthropy. The substance of most questions was about whether they should still give to universities, including their alma maters, and how to do that without perpetuating the problems we’ve encountered.

DBenitostock/Getty Images

In our experience, if you are writing a significant check to a university, the school will find some way to accommodate your requirements. As you think about directing your money to education, you should ask yourself two simple questions: Does the school deserve your donation, and toward what cause within the university should you direct your money?

Here are some of the factors you should inquire about when considering making a donation, including to your alma mater:

• Free speech: Does the school have explicit rules for free speech on campus? What speech violates rules and what speech does not? Does the school evenly apply rules when inviting outside speakers or clamping down on campus speech?

• Threats: Has the school enabled violence, harassment or bullying of any type against Jews or others? Have they reacted effectively to specific incidents on campus?

• Legal action: Is the school being sued by students and/or faculty for Title VI or Title VII or other Department of Education or Department of Justice violations? While one should be careful with schools under investigation by the DoJ or DoE, sometimes you might have to do more research before disqualifying a school.

• Foreign actors: Does the school take money from foreign sources, such as Qatar, who consort with government-designated terrorist organizations?

• Curriculum: Does the school prioritize subject matter in academic departments that are particularly hostile to Jews and Israel? There are sources for syllabi and course descriptions you can look at. Do not be afraid to ask the schools for these materials or ask your AI co-pilot to track them down online.

• Tolerance for bigotry: Have senior administration officials explicitly condemned harassment targeting Jewish and Israeli faculty and students? Have they been consistent in their denunciations?

• Follow the law, enforce the rules: Did the school follow their own policies during the encampment protests and punish students and faculty who violated school policy or the law? Did they suspend student groups that broke the law or violated the school’s code of conduct? Did they negotiate with lawbreakers or policy transgressors and make concessions? 

• Support: Does the University support Jewish life on campus, such as Hillel, Chabad, Jewish studies research, and study abroad in Israel?

• Improvement: If the school has made mistakes in some of these areas, is it working on changes to correct errors? Many have adjusted speech and harassment policies during this school year to correct their recent issues.

• DEI benevolence or malevolence: Does the school invest a disproportionate amount of its resources in DEI, practice radical forms of DEI that lead to discrimination rather than reducing it, or use “DEI statements” for faculty appointments and student admissions?

You may have other questions or may choose to deemphasize some of our questions, but having a consistent checklist can be extremely helpful for answering that first question — does the school deserve your donation?

Once you have decided to make a donation, you also have options for directing your giving that will allow you to maximize your impact and not feel like you are contributing to the problems we previously highlighted. Here are some ways to control where your money goes and how it is used:

1. You do not have to give to the general fund or endowment to have an impact. The general fund is the school’s preferred form of donation because of the flexibility it affords them, but you do not need to feel obligated to give in this way.

2. Even if you give to the general fund, you can have input on how your money is directed. Many endowments allow you to direct funds to various buckets. Of course, money is fungible so they can always move other money around in a way that dilutes your wishes.

3. You do not have to donate exclusively to your alma mater. If it is not deserving based on your considerations, then give to a university that more closely reflects your beliefs and meets your standards instead. 

4. You can give to Jewish-oriented or Israeli universities, as others have done. 

5. You can direct your money for specific uses: scholarships for Jewish students, for Israeli students, for students from your hometown, underprivileged youth, study abroad programs in Israel and so on. You will usually have considerable leeway to give to programs like this.

6. You can give money for faculty research and programs you are enthusiastic about. You can give to practically any academic discipline. You can get researchers to compete for your donation by asking them to provide proposals. You can even get directly involved in research, which can be an amazing learning experience.

7. You can help endow new faculty and programs.

8. You can help fund graduate students studying in areas to which you are devoted.

9. You can donate to student or faculty groups, with school approval. You can pay for security for Hillel, Chabad, and student group celebrations and programming.

10. You can sponsor speakers to come to campus, with a faculty or student group sponsor.

We have done many of the above since suspending all donations to endowment funds. We have directed money to scholarships; given to universities where we had no previous ties for important programs; given to Brandeis University for Jewish studies research; directed money to Israel; funded research and faculty we felt enthusiastic about; and we are about to fund a Jewish history speaker series on another campus.

Free your mind from the easy activity of just writing a yearly check to the endowment of your or your kids’ alma mater. If you do so, you will discover that there are many gratifying ways to still contribute to universities and their students and faculty. You can still make a significant impact, without compromising your values. 

David Bernstein is the founder of the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values (JILV). 

Phil Siegel is a serial for-profit and non-profit entrepreneur, private equity investor and philanthropist out of Austin, Texas.