The Bowdoin Orient

Across the NESCAC, the global financial crisis has propelled endowments downward.

Amherst's endowment has fallen by 25 percent since June 30, while Colby's endowment is down at least the same percentage. Williams has estimated a loss of about 28 percent, and Trinity has calculated an 18 percent loss.

Bowdoin administrators with knowledge of the endowment chose not to comment on the College's performance.

"The investment committee has an established policy that we do not discuss interim unaudited numbers," said Senior Vice President for Investments Paula Volent.

"I regret to say I have no comment on the state of the endowment," said President Barry Mills.

"My public release a couple of weeks ago states our public position," Mills added, referring to an October 23 campus-wide e-mail titled, "The Economy and Bowdoin." In the e-mail, Mills called the College economically "secure," but also announced that the College will slow its spending.

The Bowdoin endowment stood at $831 million on June 30.

Moody's Investor Services has projected that college endowments will have fallen an average of 30 percent this fiscal year, which stretches from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009.

Amherst disclosed its loss in a letter to the campus on October 28.

"Even with our relatively strong investment management, the endowment has lost roughly a quarter of its value since June 30," wrote Amherst President Tony Marx.

Colby President William D. Adams revealed the Colby endowment's 25-percent-plus decline in the annual state of the college address on October 18.

"We have seen a very significant decline in our endowment," Adams said. "It's hard to keep up with that endowment valuation, but we're in excess of 25 percent in terms of the decline."

In an interview with the Williams Record in late October, Williams President Morton Schapiro estimated Williams' endowment at "probably $1.3 [billion]," down from $1.8 billion on June 30, which would set the Williams endowment loss at almost 28 percent.

Trinity Vice President for College Advancement Ron Joyce told the Orient that from July 1 to the end of October, the Trinity endowment lost approximately 18 percent of its value, though Trinity has not publicly released an official figure. The Standard and Poor's 500-stock index lost 24.3 percent of its value during that period. From that time to the market close on Thursday, November 13, the S&P 500 fell a further 5.9 percent, for a total drop of 28.8 percent since June 30.

Other schools have not reported exact numbers, but several NESCAC administrators have commented on the general state of their endowments.

Tufts President Lawrence Bacow told the Tufts Daily for its October 22 issue, "Everything is down; our endowment is down as well."

Wesleyan President Michael Roth, in his official blog, was not specific about the endowment number, but he wrote in an October 15 post, "Our endowment, already down last fiscal year, has taken a hit in the first quarter of this one," and in an October 7 post, he called the first-quarter results "dismal."

Whether or not the colleges released figures for their endowments, the majority have announced budget freezes or cost-cutting measures.

At Middlebury, in a mid-October memo, President Ron Liebowitz announced a hiring freeze on "all but the most essential staff positions," noting that although Middlebury is wealthier than most colleges, "nobody is immune."

At Bates, President Elaine Hansen e-mailed the Bates community in late October to address the financial crisis's effect on the college, writing that Bates is "not immune to declining markets, higher costs of borrowing, the potential impact on giving and the economic effects on our students and employees and their families."

However, Bates Director of Alumni and Parent Programs Kimberly Hokanson said that a drop in the endowment is not as damaging to the college as similar drops would be to peer schools.

"We are less reliant on income from our endowment as a percentage of our budget than other colleges with larger endowments, such as Bowdoin and Colby," Hokanson told the Bates Student.

Only 11.6 percent of Bates' income for current operations comes from the endowment, according to Hokanson. In contrast, 24 percent of Bowdoin's operating budget was drawn from the College's endowment in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008.

In recent years, the Bowdoin endowment has risen 1.3 percent (2007-2008), 22.9 percent (2006-2007), 16.5 percent (2005-2006) and 12.4 percent (2004-2005).

-Nick Day contributed to this report.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story quoted Trinity Vice President for College Advancement Ron Joyce saying that the Trinity endowment fell "approximately 16 percent" between July 1 and October 30. Joyce revised that number to 18 percent in post-publication correspondence with the Orient. The above story now reflects the correct figure.

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