What would you do with a quarter billion dollars?

[UrinalCake]

A bit off-topic, but Duke is expected to receive a $261M donation, believed to be the largest in history. Of particular interest is the fact that there are no stipulations on how the money can be spent.

link

So I ask you, my fellow DBR readers, if you were in charge of the university, how would you spend this money? All suggestions are welcome, both serious and otherwise.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Re do Wade again...turn it into a smallish domed stadium if possible - where a committment to passing would be rewarded with perfect weather and a crowd of 22,000 would be loud...

[Gooch]

(My daughter has applied Early Decision this year...)

[OldPhiKap]

Clearly, time to declare an alumni dividend.

(there is a thread on the OTB about this btw)

[SupaDave]

Free all the homies in prison and then convert them into homes and shelters for the homeless with free medical care.

[cato]

(My daughter has applied Early Decision this year...)

I’m a proud Trinity grad, but lowering barriers to incoming and future engineering students sounds like a wonderful idea to me.

And I wouldn’t take the scholarships away if those students moonlighted.

[mattman91]

Establish an exclusive Duke athletics streaming platform. The boomers that can't figure out streaming services would LOVE this!

[UrinalCake]

I did a little bit of math, thinking about how the money could be used to help lower tuition costs. Given the published cost of attendance of $78,608 from Duke's website, a $261M endowment that earns 10% would be enough to pay full tuition for 332 students per year. (I have no idea if that 10% return is even reasonable.) Or, if you divided it evenly among the 6,682 undergrads then it would lower tuition by $3,906. I think establishing some sort of scholarship program would be an excellent use of the money, and is a pretty common approach.

My second choice would be to pay whatever amount is required to Google to redirect all searches for anything UNC-related to gthcgth.com.

[arnie]

The Duke Endowment totals $8.6 billion. They could simply throw it in the bucket for a total of $8.86 billion.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

I’d build a really tall, beautiful wall around the dump on the hump. And then fill it with the entire world supply of concrete.

[Faustus]

Monorail.

[devildeac]

I’d build a really tall, beautiful wall around the dump on the hump. And then fill it with the entire world supply of concrete.

Classic old Duke-NCSU-"u"nc joke. Never gets old.

[dukelifer]

I did a little bit of math, thinking about how the money could be used to help lower tuition costs. Given the published cost of attendance of $78,608 from Duke's website, a $261M endowment that earns 10% would be enough to pay full tuition for 332 students per year. (I have no idea if that 10% return is even reasonable.) Or, if you divided it evenly among the 6,682 undergrads then it would lower tuition by $3,906. I think establishing some sort of scholarship program would be an excellent use of the money, and is a pretty common approach.

My second choice would be to pay whatever amount is required to Google to redirect all searches for anything UNC-related to gthcgth.com.

Duke budgets for a 5% return on endowments.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Guaranteed admission and 50% discount on tuition for all children of DBR posters.

[LasVegas]

Pay the athletic department as long as they agree to never wear gray uniforms and return to the true duke blue. Wait, am in in the right thread?

[bundabergdevil]

I'd buy the world a Pepsi just to stick it to Coke.

[OldPhiKap]

I'd buy the world a Pepsi just to stick it to Coke.

I’d teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony. So I guess we’ve gotta rumble.

[sagegrouse]

The Duke Endowment totals $8.6 billion. They could simply throw it in the bucket for a total of $8.86 billion.

Yes, and there's more. The $8.5 billion is the value of the Duke UNIVERSITY Endowment. The Duke Endowment (TDE), established by James B. Duke, is a separate entity and is worth $3.6 billion as of the end of 2018. Given market returns in 2019, it is probably worth $3.8-4.0 billion at present. Duke University receives half or more of the grants from TDE, so a sizable portion of this entity should be considered as endowment for Duke University.

Both endowments are under the same money manager, which also handles (so I've heard) the investments of Duke Health.

[53n206]

Affirmative action for qualified students who have needs. To help America grow and prosper. Qualified means studrnts who have the potential to make a difference. And by that I do not only mean political. Science, engineering, teaching etc. We have enough lawyers and sociologists. (Perhaps too much wine. But so many temptations.)

[OldPhiKap]

If I had that kind of money, I would buy every ticket to every game at the Dean Dome for a decade. Then, not go.