As incoming freshmen and their parents drive up Park Street on the way to the dorms next fall in SUVs and station wagons brimming with futon frames and shining appliances, they will pass something unique to the UW.
In fact, new students will be in the presence of this phenomenon, previously unheard of in the United States, for the next 20 years. The oddity, of course, is the Wisconsin School of Business, named not after a single donor or alum, but rather for its affiliation with the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
At the beginning of last semester, the University of Washington-Seattle changed its name. University of Washington-Seattle had just named its business school to honor Michael G. Foster after receiving his family's $50 million donation.
At the start of this semester, the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business has managed to keep its name just that and has received $85 million from 13 different alumni.
The difference, from the perspective of Michael M. Knetter, dean of the UW-Madison School of Business, was that he wanted to avoid picking favorites. As he read the Foster School of Business press release, he felt as if UW-Seattle was trying to convince readers that this particular alumnus was worthy of naming the entire school.
Wisconsin is the kind of place where ... we tend to have more of a team approach to a lot of things,"" Knetter said. ""I got the idea that ... maybe people would be interested in an alternative approach rather than find someone who is then anointed forever as the icon of successful business. We have a lot of successful alumni and they're all very different.""
As Knetter talked with alumni about donating, he said he began to feel as if he wanted to come up with an alternative to the traditional system.
""Implicitly, you're saying that nobody else is that good, and I wouldn't want to compare our alumni like that,"" said Knetter. ""Once you pick one person, that's suddenly it ... other people are excluded.""
According to Russell N. Howes, the vice president for Legal Affairs and Planned Giving at the University of Wisconsin Foundation, under the traditional model for giving, one donor makes a lead gift and subsequently names a university chair, building, school or project after himself, with some room left for others to give and receive recognition as well.
Additionally, Howes mentioned that the new ""no-name"" gift alternative ""will primarily be used to preserve the tradition and history of Departments, Schools and Colleges.""
*Makin' history*
As well as preserving history, the 13 alumni who contributed to the ""no-name"" gift also made history: The gift is the first of its kind to a business school in the United States and marks the first gift to include unrestricted funds.
""In terms of gifts from individuals, our school had never received a single unrestricted gift,"" Knetter said. ""So to get 13 of them ... that's a lot.""
Some have questioned whether such a large donation is really necessary. However, Cynthia Jasper, professor of consumer science, insisted it is.
""I think that colleges, schools and universities are depending more on charitable giving than they have in a long time,"" Jasper said. ""In the past, the state would pick up a bigger part of the cost.""
Jane Allyn Piliavin, Conway-Bascom professor Emerita of sociology, agrees.
""As a liberal, I find it reprehensible that so much that should be covered by the government [such as] support for higher education ... in this country is not,"" Piliavin said. ""Thus, individuals who have the means and care must step in.""
Although individuals have been stepping in for many years, however, this is the first non-naming gift of its kind. Jasper and Piliavin all called this gift unique.
And, though they agreed that a person's upbringing, sense of moral obligation, religious beliefs and even desire to be recognized for charitable giving could all play a part in his decision to donate to a charitable cause, none could pinpoint a reason for this enormous change in type of donation.
""A lot of times, philanthropists will look back on their own lives and see what was important for them, such as their education ... They look back on what did make a difference and they give according to that,"" Jasper said. ""The fact that they gave to the business school as opposed to another school, that does say something about their values and what they want to promote here at the university.""
Some think, however, that a system that relies on donations can be erratic and make necessary tasks, like budgeting, very difficult.
""I wish they would give some of it to the College of Letters and Science, where over 85 percent of the undergraduates take their classes,"" Piliavin said.
*The best of intentions?*
Jasper mentioned that, aside from being unpredictable, donations made in order to name something after the donor can also change the meaning of the gift. ""There is another motive,"" she said. ""There is some personal gratification just to give but also to have others know that you have contributed.""
Piliavin agreed: Although donors often choose to donate to institutions that ""have meaning in the context of their lives,"" she cited tax exemption benefits as a large motivation for philanthropists. The incentive value of tax laws, according to Piliavin, is proof that charitable giving is not entirely altruistic.
Howes said he believes there are as many motivations as there are givers, and each philanthropist should be recognized and appreciated for his or her gift.
""I don't see charitable giving as ever being selfish,"" Howes said. ""I deal with tax deductions on a daily basis and no matter how you do the math, when somebody makes a gift, they have fewer resources left after the gift than they did before.""
""They don't make gifts just to get a tax deduction. They don't make gifts just for recognition. They give because they want to help and be part of and connected to this great institution,"" Howes said.
All of the donors listed as part of the Wisconsin Naming Partnership on the UW-Madison School of Business site are already connected to the university; each earned either a Bachelor of Business Administration or a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Economics.
After dismissing the idea that donations are made in search of recognition, Howes went on to explain what he felt is the more relevant question: whether the educational services being delivered are any different because a school is named or not named.
""If I had given 85 million to have the name Russ Howes put on the School of Business,"" Howes said, ""the monetary effect on the School's ability to educate students would arguably be the same as that produced by this group of donors who have been willing to be part of the 'no name' gift.""
Howes explained ""there are upsides and downsides"" that come with the recognition philanthropists receive.
Although the press often views them favorably, many other charities may view them as potential donors and begin soliciting them for gifts.
*Not ""no name"" forever*
For the dean of the School of Business, the altruism of the ""no-name"" gift was never an issue at all.
Knetter fully expects that, once the 20-year lifespan Wisconsin Naming Partnership has passed, an alumnus may make the lead gift on another School of Business project to have his name put on the school.
""It's not like we think this naming thing is out of hand and beneath us or something or that we're morally superior,"" Knetter said. ""In fact, one of the donors, Sheldon Lubar, named the business school at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. And I think that's great. This was just a different idea for us.""
Even if the School of Business does not continue with this different idea, Jasper said she'll understand.
""Even if someone wants to have their name on a building, it doesn't necessarily mean that they're being selfish,"" she said.
She expressed a hope, however, that the school of business will continue in its new vein, starting a trend for other schools to keep their affiliation.
Howes agreed.
""I would hope that it is a trend. I think that it is good for all institutions of higher education to think about this model.""
