[BrevinsBest]

I mean, it’s not like John Arillaga didn’t donate $300 million over the course of his lifetime to Stanford (largely Athletics).  I suspect that had he still been alive, the conversation around Iriafen, Canady, and NIL might be very different.  I never knew Arillaga, but I suspect he would have been all in on NIL.

Stanford has dozens of very wealthy alums, many of whom are very generous to the University.  However, I don’t think any of them prioritize athletics to the extent that Arillaga did.  That’s not arrogance, that’s just a difference in values and preferences.  Many would prefer to endow buildings, a new school of sustainability, professorships or academic scholarships than athletics facilities, coaches, or NILs.  It’s their money; how to give it away is their business.  And while it would be fun to be talking about picking up a national title in Softball or having a competitive football team, I can’t honestly say that I would have preferred to see John and Ann Doerr direct their $1.1 billion donation towards the athletic department instead of the school of Sustainability that now bears their name (and again, not really my business what they want to give to anyways).

BC

While Arrillaga gave a massive amount to athletics, I think he may have created an environment where other big donors were less inclined to give. I also think development's reliance on Arrillaga reduced their efforts for finding other significant donors. We'll see what the next few years looks like, but I hope the group is able to find a handful of large donors to give.

[BrevinsBest]

I mean, it’s not like John Arillaga didn’t donate $300 million over the course of his lifetime to Stanford (largely Athletics).  I suspect that had he still been alive, the conversation around Iriafen, Canady, and NIL might be very different.  I never knew Arillaga, but I suspect he would have been all in on NIL.

Stanford has dozens of very wealthy alums, many of whom are very generous to the University.  However, I don’t think any of them prioritize athletics to the extent that Arillaga did.  That’s not arrogance, that’s just a difference in values and preferences.  Many would prefer to endow buildings, a new school of sustainability, professorships or academic scholarships than athletics facilities, coaches, or NILs.  It’s their money; how to give it away is their business.  And while it would be fun to be talking about picking up a national title in Softball or having a competitive football team, I can’t honestly say that I would have preferred to see John and Ann Doerr direct their $1.1 billion donation towards the athletic department instead of the school of Sustainability that now bears their name (and again, not really my business what they want to give to anyways).

BC

While Arrillaga gave a massive amount to athletics, I think he may have created an environment where other big donors were less inclined to give. I also think development's reliance on Arrillaga reduced their efforts for finding other significant donors. We'll see what the next few years looks like, but I hope the group is able to find a handful of large donors to give.