Key Takeaways
- • Wesleyan University's endowment traces its origins to a $1,000 gift from the Second Wesleyan Chapel of New York City in June 1847, growing to $14,010.70 by August 1854.
- • The 1866 Permanent Fund drive collected $93,153.01, with endowment income supplying between 60 and 80 percent of university revenue in the late 19th century.
- • George Davison's bequest of $6.3 million in 1953 nearly doubled the endowment and was the single most impactful gift in its history.
- • Stuart Hedden, chair of the Finance Committee from 1942 to 1955, raised the common stock allocation from 38 to 49 percent within two years (1943-45).
- • Sale of American Education Publications, including My Weekly Reader, to Xerox for 400,000 shares of Xerox stock funded a major 1960s campus expansion.
Summary
Wesleyan University's endowment began in June 1847 with a $1,000 gift from the Second Wesleyan Chapel of New York City. By August 1854 the fund had grown to $14,010.70. In 1852 the Board of Trustees resolved that all other monies received in trust for the university be placed with the university treasurer, to be held for the donors' intended purposes.
In 1866 the university launched a fundraising effort for a Permanent Fund, also called the Permanent Endowment or simply the Endowment, which collected $93,153.01. Much of that sum was in notes not paid until after William Hoyt became treasurer in 1878. In the late nineteenth century, endowment income supplied between 60 and 80 percent of Wesleyan's revenue.
According to the university's account, subsequent growth came from investment returns and donor generosity. Some major gifts came from unexpected sources. In 1934 Charles Morse, who had no prior connection to the university, bequeathed almost $2.7 million, raising the endowment by 53 percent. The largest single impact came in 1953, when the bequest of George Davison, class of 1892 and Board chair from 1928 to 1943, provided $6.3 million, almost doubling the endowment and substantially increasing annual investment income.
Stuart Hedden, class of 1919 and chair of the Board's Finance Committee from 1942 to 1955, applied his Wall Street experience to the portfolio, raising its common stock share from 38 to 49 percent between 1943 and 1945. The university describes him as the architect of its financial prosperity in the 1950s.
In the 1960s the endowment grew rapidly after Wesleyan sold American Education Publications, including My Weekly Reader, to Xerox for 400,000 shares of Xerox stock. Proceeds funded faculty and student growth and construction of Hall-Atwater, the Science Center and later the Center for the Arts.
More recently, capital campaigns have driven major endowment increases. President Emeritus Colin G. Campbell led the first successful postwar campaign, raising $63 million. Later campaigns raised $281 million under President Emeritus Douglas J. Bennet and $482 million under President Michael S. Roth in the THIS IS WHY campaign.
In 1866 the university launched a fundraising effort for a Permanent Fund, also called the Permanent Endowment or simply the Endowment, which collected $93,153.01. Much of that sum was in notes not paid until after William Hoyt became treasurer in 1878. In the late nineteenth century, endowment income supplied between 60 and 80 percent of Wesleyan's revenue.
According to the university's account, subsequent growth came from investment returns and donor generosity. Some major gifts came from unexpected sources. In 1934 Charles Morse, who had no prior connection to the university, bequeathed almost $2.7 million, raising the endowment by 53 percent. The largest single impact came in 1953, when the bequest of George Davison, class of 1892 and Board chair from 1928 to 1943, provided $6.3 million, almost doubling the endowment and substantially increasing annual investment income.
Stuart Hedden, class of 1919 and chair of the Board's Finance Committee from 1942 to 1955, applied his Wall Street experience to the portfolio, raising its common stock share from 38 to 49 percent between 1943 and 1945. The university describes him as the architect of its financial prosperity in the 1950s.
In the 1960s the endowment grew rapidly after Wesleyan sold American Education Publications, including My Weekly Reader, to Xerox for 400,000 shares of Xerox stock. Proceeds funded faculty and student growth and construction of Hall-Atwater, the Science Center and later the Center for the Arts.
More recently, capital campaigns have driven major endowment increases. President Emeritus Colin G. Campbell led the first successful postwar campaign, raising $63 million. Later campaigns raised $281 million under President Emeritus Douglas J. Bennet and $482 million under President Michael S. Roth in the THIS IS WHY campaign.
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