OT: 4th 100 million donation to Northwestern this year

Submitted by StephenRKass on

Today J. B. Pritzker announced a $100,000,000 donation to Northwestern's Law School. Previously this year, Northwestern received 3 other $100,000,000 donations. They have raised a total of 2 and a quarter billion in gifts since 2014. Among other things, Northwestern is spending upwards of $200,000,000 for their sports complex. While Big 10 TV money is helping, it is obvious that they are receiving significant funds towards the entire campus. As a point of comparison, Ross gave $200,000,000 to Michigan's business school.

MGoStrength

October 22nd, 2015 at 5:31 PM ^

That can't be the largest high school football stadium.  When I lived in Midland, TX, Robert E Lee High School played at a stadium of similar size and I know Ratliff Stadium in Odessa was even bigger.  That's the stadium in Friday Night Lights...pretty sure even back then in the 80's it was over 18,000 capacity.

gwkrlghl

October 22nd, 2015 at 7:55 PM ^

There's a lot of stuff in the south still named for Confederate stuff. US 1 through Richmond VA is named Jefferson Davis Highway with a bridge over the James River called the Robert E. Lee bridge.

SalvatoreQuattro

October 22nd, 2015 at 8:08 PM ^

It's a complicated situation. If you're black you hate it for obvious reasons. If you're white and your family has been there for generations it's commemorating a person of singular importance to white Southern identity.

trustBlue

October 23rd, 2015 at 1:40 AM ^

You've obviously never been south of the mason dixon. That kind of shit is all over the south. You dont remember the big stink about South Carolina continuing to fly the confederate flag over the State Capitol that was going on over the summer?

MGoStrength

October 23rd, 2015 at 7:57 AM ^

Yup, although most just call it Lee High.  It's funny because I never though twice about when I lived there, but I was there when I was probably too young to know the difference (ages 2-12).  Cedric Benson went there, so did Tommy Lee Jones.  If you've ever seen Friday Night Lights the movie they are the team from Midland that everyone hates because they are the rich kids.

BlueMan80

October 22nd, 2015 at 5:49 PM ^

but they sure could make the current one less of a dump.  The east side stands are high school stadium quality and the west side stands are large but older than the hills.  They need something closer to Michigan quality standards so we aren't uncomfortable when we take over their stadium when we play in Evanston.

Esterhaus

October 22nd, 2015 at 5:07 PM ^

 

Better endowed. Michigan Men in particular. Although Northwestern does hold Chicago's most valuable real estate, so that may help the school sleep better at night. For now we're bigger though. By this I mean we're YUGE.  /Trump_commentary_disabled

Wendyk5

October 22nd, 2015 at 5:18 PM ^

As an Evanston resident, it irks many of us that Northwestern isn't more involved in our community. They don't pay property taxes, and continue to invest in their own campus. Our infrastructure sucks compared to some of the other north shore towns. All of them, really. Whenever I visit Ann Arbor, it seems like U of M and Ann Arbor are inextricably bound. But Northwestern is a bit isolationist. They are like a jewel in the north shore crown, with amazing new buildings going up all the time. Meanwhile, we town folk are trying to turn the lowly recycling center into a baseball practice facility and can't raise the money to do it. Signed, a disgruntled Evanstonian.

salami

October 22nd, 2015 at 7:51 PM ^

Ann Arbor, or any college town has undeniable benefits from the universities within. 

The ramshakle turn of the last century homes on streets surrounding the campus and beyond would be worth mere thousands if in located any other city, not the several hundreds of thousands they command due only to the never ending stream of students.  Im sure A2 more than cleans up on the property taxes alone based on the abnormally high property values.  Ann Arbor would be Dexter w/o the U. (w/ all due respect to Dexter)

True Blue Grit

October 22nd, 2015 at 6:27 PM ^

It seems there are a lot of similarities between Evanston and Ann Arbor where I live.  One of the big differences is that NU and Evanston are stuck within a huge, congested metropolis, whereas AA is a stand-alone college town within a sort-of safe distance from Detroit. 

Still, I think Evanston and the Northwestern campus is a wonderful place.  Obviously I don't live there, but based on my visit there it has a lot going for it. 

Wendyk5

October 22nd, 2015 at 7:27 PM ^

It's a beautiful place on the lakefront. When you move inland, less so. For some reason, businesses don't thrive here like they do in Ann Arbor. Every time I go to AA, I am amazed at the restaurant scene. I guess you could argue that we compete with Chicago, but with the north shore suburbs so close, and comparatively lots of money there, you would think that Evanston could field some of that market. Coming to Evanston on the weekend is way easier than getting into the city. But restaurants close all the time, unfortunately. Shops, as well. The only thing we have is a big movie theater with a couple of lame restaurants nearby, like Chili's and Noodles and Co. Our community services like ice skating rink and public gyms are woeful. And our schools could benefit from some kind of partnership with Northwestern. I don't know how Ann Arbor and U of M handle that, or if there's any relationship at all, but Northwestern would be a hero to do something good for the Evanston schools. 

Esterhaus

October 22nd, 2015 at 7:26 PM ^

 
 
Jane Watson Grover aka Mrs. Blanchard. I invite you to heap your complaints on her desk. She, her brother and the rest of her family are no friends of mine since I was undergrad. When they have crossed my path, and they have, instant karma. 
 
Good luck.

Wendyk5

October 22nd, 2015 at 7:31 PM ^

She's an acquaintance of mine. Our sons played travel baseball together. I don't live in her ward, so I'm not familiar with her work related to Evanston. I don't know her personally other than seeing her at games, but I will heap praise on her photograpic abilities. She's taken some great action shots of my son that will remain in the family album. I'm curious why the negative feelings. And I forgot she was a Michigan grad. 

Picktown GoBlue

October 22nd, 2015 at 11:37 PM ^

its school so much, for years you could not buy take-out food (like what college kids might want to purchase) or heavens sake, get food from a drive-through window.  Not high enough class.  We had to order the food on a tray, then put it in bags ourselves at the local Burger King until they finally repealed the ordinance.

NU had to sue the city to have professional games on campus, such as Bulls, Bears, and tennis matches (1970).

NU had to sue to remove a statute that wanted to call the Allen hall a hotel/motel and get tax revenue on it (1991).

Not sure what the results were but there was a lot of bad blood between the two over historical districts (2003).  As noted there, the Supreme Court ruled NU did not have to pay property taxes in the 1880s.  But it's still a sore point for Evanstonians 135 years later

Evanston even wanted to use a "Brothel rule" to get rid of hard-partying students in apartments (because more than 3 people of the same sex were living together) (2011).

Definitely not two entities that appreciate each other, even though their foundings were so closely intertwined (Mr. Evans founded NU). 

Evanston is a strange city, and NU a strange school. 

Signed, NU alum who spent many years in the city (visiting as a northsider), had children born there, and relatives who worked there including a former city employee.

Wendyk5

October 22nd, 2015 at 11:52 PM ^

Have you been back recently? Evanston is hardly high class. It's a very racially and economically diverse city, with a few wealthy people but over 40% of its students qualify for free lunches. I know that Evanston was dry for quite a while, which seems like it comes from a very conservative place, but Evanston is now very liberal and inclusive. The high school is actually an amazing place - not just racially and ethnically diverse, but has every kind of teenager you can think of, even homeless ones (45 of them to be exact). And they coexist peacefully for the most part. The only issues are gang related, which is in the neighborhoods surrounding the schools. 

 

As for property taxes, it is a sore point because Northwestern continues to buy up property, thereby watering down the tax base. The residents have to pick up the slack with either increased taxes or diminished services. Northwestern has a beautiful campus and offers us Big Ten sports in our backyard, which is great, but you're right - there is a divide. 

Wolverine Devotee

October 22nd, 2015 at 5:20 PM ^

Michigan Stadium alone was $226M and that's excluding the scoreboard upgrades and permanent stadium lights that were installed after the big project was done.

Still a lot more to do but everything is coming along nicely so far. Ocker Field seating could've been smaller as it has not yet been filled for a game.