My Old School

One of the comedians I enjoy watching is John Mulaney. I’ve watched all of his Netflix specials and I think he’s entertaining. (I hope he’s able to recover from his recent stint in rehab also.) However, I was thinking about a bit he does on one of his specials about his disdain for the college he attended. He equated his alma mater to a hooker who had performed a service and been paid for that service, yet kept coming back to him for more money (via the alumni association). I watched this skit and thought it was typical BS that an upper-middle-class jerk would say. His attitude was so flippant and shrill and came from someone who never doubted that he would (a) not go to college and (b) not go to an expensive, top-ranked college (in Mulaney’s case, Georgetown).

 As someone who was glad just to be able to go to college, I’m glad to contribute to my alma maters. I appreciate the education I received as an undergraduate and a graduate student and I certainly don’t call the universities that I attended “hookers” for asking me to contribute to scholarship funds for underprivileged students or funds for campus facilities. (I draw the line at contributing for any kind of sports things. Those organizations can and often do get money from someone else.) I remember reading an article where Mike Bloomberg talked about how he could only afford to give his alma mater, Johns Hopkins, some small amount of money after he graduated, like $10, but he felt it was important to give what he could because he appreciated everything the school had done for him. (He certainly has come a long way from those meager donations because Johns Hopkins named their School of Public Health after Bloomberg.) I agree with Mikey B’s philosophy on this. Give what you can, but give and I do. No, I’m not giving enough to my alma maters to have a school named after me, but I think it’s important to support a school that supported you.