(02/01/17 5:02am)
I am the alumnus who wrote a one-line critique of the Doerr Institute for New Leaders under the Thresher’s Jan. 20 Facebook post regarding the decaying state of the colleges: “At least we have the $50M Doerr Institute to teach us about leadership though.” 146 others gave it the thumbs up. For the class of 2020, Rice admitted 325 club/organization presidents, 197 student government members, 18 class presidents and 18 student council presidents. We have a lot of leaders. Maybe the Institute and I see two different schools. To me, the Institute’s purpose remains mired in nonsensical verbiage and has had mixed reviews about its efficacy. $50 million for a vague end goal seems daft, especially if we consider that a $30 million and $32 million gift helped build Duncan College and McMurtry College, respectively. When 78 percent of undergraduates live on campus and have to be kicked off one year due to a lack of space, that money could do a lot of good elsewhere, namely in investing in the colleges.
