Last week at the Harvard Fund's thirtieth anniversary dinner, the Class of 1930 gave a check for $285,000 to the President and Fellows of Harvard College. It is a sizable amount, representing 25 years of fund-raising efforts in that particular class. And yet it is not an unusually large sum; indeed, in the immediate future, each 25th Reunion class will probably give the College no less an amount, and very likely a little more.

Just Wait

Virtually all the organizational work for these appeals for money is centered in Wadsworth House, the home of the Fund. Few undergraduates have probably heard of the Fund; but none will be out of College for any length of time without gaining a considerably better knowledge of its activities. While these activities, may prove irksome to the young, impecunious graduate, they are extremely important for the College. In the 30 years of its existence, the Fund has contributed $8,000,000 to its unrestricted endowment and, at the present rate, will add $800,000 each year. Since of the $229,000,000 in the Harvard endowment only $39,000,000 lie in the unrestricted area, the role the Fund has played in the development of the financial potentialities of the College is obvious.

These figures are also indicative of strong bonds which attach most alumni to the College--an attachment which can be plainly shown in the dollars and cents contributed to the Harvard Fund.

The Harvard Fund Council came into existence in 1925, when a group of graduates, led by Joseph R. Hamlen '04, decided that there should be a permanent fund dedicated to the raising of unrestricted money for the general needs of the College. Hamlen became the Fund's first chairman, and David McCord '21 filled the position of Executive Secretary. McCord has remained with the Council ever since, as have two others in his office, A. Winnefred Preble and Marion L. Anderson.

Inefficient Campaigns

Before the Fund was founded, all Harvard's free gifts came from bequests and wills of wealthy alumni. Occasionally, when there was a pressing necessity for money, an alumni canvass would be organized. Several of these were made in the late 1910's and early 1920's to raise teachers' salaries. One of them, in 1919, produced close to $13,000,000, but many graduates felt that a constant flow of unrestricted funds would be much better than periodic, inefficient campaigns which occurred only in times of serious emergency.

It was natural that the 25th reunion found should become the backbone of the annual alumni drive, since by 1925 each twenty-five-year class was giving $150,000 to the College. The custom of giving such a large lump sum began officially in 1906 when the Class of 1881 totalled $117,000. An unofficial move in that direction was made two years earlier, however, when the Class of 1879 raised almost $100,000 for the construction of a new football stadium. The following year, the Class of 1880 achieved about the same amount and designated it for specific purposes.

The final step was made in 1906 when the money raised was placed in the unrestricted category. The $100,000 level remained until 1923 when the Class of 1896 increased the contribution to $150,000.

Under the Harvard Fund, which took over the management of the 25-year gift in 1925, the mechanics of the drives was improved. Each year the donations from various members of the classes would be placed in a bank to accumulate interest towards the final campaign goal. At the end of the twenty-five year period, the total accumulation would represent the classes' reunion donation.

Over the past thirty years, the reunion gift has gradually grown, although it did experience a drop back to the $100,000 level during the depression years. In the last two years, the classes of 1929 and 1930 have given approximately $300,000 each, even though they were originally the "depression classes" which first claimed they were too poor to contribute much to their reunion fund. Present figures indicate that the Class of 1931 is well on its way to reaching the $300,000 goal for next year.

The steady increase in the size of the gift has been entirely a product of the initiative of each individual class. The Fund Council office never puts pressure of a class in the last stages of its campaign. The size of the goal and the amount of the final donation is determined by the class itself. McCord feels that in this matter, the relations between the Fund and the alumni remain much more relaxed and cordial. In the long run the College profits more than it would with high-pressure techniques.

Match Lamont

One of the Fund's most important achievements was made through its most atypical action. In 1946, Thomas W. Lamont '92 gave the College $1,500,000 for the construction of a new library to supplement the inadequate Widener undergraduate facilities. With costs rising after the war, this sum was not nearly enough, and the Harvard Fund was asked if it would devote its next few drives to matching Lamont's figure.

The Fund accepted the challenge and abandoned its attempts to raise unrestricted funds for three years. All money, except what was designated for 25th-year gifts, went towards the proposed library. Even special donations from 25-year campaigns were accepted. For $10,000 a graduate could dedicate, with a bronze plaque, one of the book-collection alcoves to the memory of a relative. The College also took the reunion gifts from the Classes of 1921, 1922, and 1923 using them to exceed the original $1,500,000 goal by several hundred thousand dollars.