There’s only one way to look at The Campaign for Syracuse University: How could $1 billion be bad for us?

Despite all the extravagant and, at times, over-the-top hubbub surrounding the campaign, the fact remains that millions of dollars are already being pumped into SU’s coffers with millions more promised over the next several years.

Better yet, the money isn’t just intended for the several building projects that are already planned or under way. Plans are already in motion to use the money to bring more students to SU on scholarship or financial aid and hire more high-caliber faculty members to instruct them. What’s the point of a shiny, new Life Sciences Complex or communications building if there’s nobody here to use them?

One of the best ways to improve a university is to invest in it, and it is hoped that the SU administration will invest wisely, starting with the people who make up the university. As a private institution, SU’s tuition can be double or even triple that of a state school’s. The only way to combat these rising costs is to make it so that students who deserve to go here are able to afford it. Nothing says ‘Welcome to SU’ like a few thousand dollars knocked off your tuition each semester.

The faculty can’t be left out either. Putting donated money into hiring new, experienced faculty members will increase the quality of education students receive. The money can also be used to pay for the compensation and benefits for current faculty members, which would relieve some of the burden from the tuition students pay.

But part of it comes down to what the donors want. Brian Sischo, associate vice president for development and SU campaign director, said that a large portion of donations are directed funds, meaning the donors allocate where their money goes.

‘It has increasingly been that donors are more savvy and directed in how they donate,’ Sischo said.

With any luck, those donors with deep enough pockets to shell out several grand a year will be savvy enough to realize their money could be used to put someone through four years at SU instead of having a lounge named after them in Newhouse III.

Chancellor Nancy Cantor and her family even caught the donation fever, committing $1 million to be paid over time, which also includes an undisclosed amount willed to the university in her estate. It sounds disappointing at first that SU will have to wait to receive large commitments such as this until the donors are six feet under, but it’s important to realize that they also allow the Board of Trustees to use them as collateral to fund current projects.

In the end, the success of the campaign won’t be measured by how much money was raised, but by how that money was spent. Let’s hope it’s done with those who need the money the most in mind.

Steve Kovach is a biweekly columnist for The Daily Orange. He can be reached at sjkovach@gmail.com.

Published on November 13, 2007 at 12:00 pm