Harvard Chooses Group for Donations

The $1 million Harvard pledged to higher education for families of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack victims will be administered by the Families of Freedom Fund, University officials said Saturday.

Former president Bill Clinton and former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole will chair the fund, which was founded two weeks ago by the Citizens’ Scholarship Foundation of America (CSFA) and the Lumina Foundation for Education.

Harvard is the first university to donate money to the fund, joining the two foundations and three technology companies.

Columbia University officials said last week that it would also contribute to a fund for the same purpose, but said the specifics of their donation were still being established.

Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers announced the planned donation last Wednesday in a letter to the Harvard community, when details of its administration had not yet been determined.

“We’ve been trying to find the most appropriate vehicle to administer the money with the least administrative cost,” University spokesperson Joe Wrinn said.

CSFA will award need-based scholarships to the children and spouses of those killed or permanently disabled by the attack, using all the donations it receives.

CSFA hopes to raise at least $100 million for the campaign, which could begin giving out scholarships as early as January.

Public service announcements featuring Clinton and Dole and encouraging financial support will air during the Emmy Awards on CBS Sunday.

Potentially eligible scholarship recipients include the families of those killed in the attacks in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania, including those of rescuers lost in the aftermath.

“The children and spouses of firefighters and police officers, flight crews and passengers, World Trade Center and Pentagon workers—all of the victims of the attacks—have lost so much,” Dole said in a statement. “We hope that this scholarship fund will help erase some of their doubts and fears about their future.”

Information on making individual donations is available at www.familiesoffreedom.com, or by calling 1-800-335-1102.