INTELLIGENT PHILANTHROPY

The gift of $500,000 for a permanent endowment of the Fogg Art Museum, made by one of the departments of the Rockefeller Foundation, stands out as one of the most intelligent pieces of philanthropy by which the University has benefitted in recent years. Such far sighted action, however, is not surprising, coming as it does from one of the most progressive bodies in the United States.

Too often is the crying need of funds for maintenance of the large and expensive plants of almost every college and university in the country overlooked in the desire on the part of philanthropists to see some concrete expression of their contributions. Every addition to the material plant of an institution means an added expense and a necessary addition to the endowment fund.

It is particularly fortunate that the Fogg Art Museum is the recipient of this fund for it has found increasing difficulty in meeting overhead expenses. This sum, large as it may seem, is not sufficient to cover all the expenses which the museum must handle each year, and in order to avoid any possible curtailment of its activities the endowment must receive substantial augmentation.