U. of Wisconsin-Madison Furloughs Employees Despite Accepting $10 Million in Coronavirus Relief

The University of Wisconsin-Madison, which boasts an endowment of $3 billion, announced this week that it will accept $10 million in federal coronavirus relief. Wealthy universities like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton have rejected millions of dollars in taxpayer funds in April after facing pressure from President Donald Trump and the public.

According to a report by The College Fix, the University of Wisconsin, Madison, has announced that it will accept nearly $10 million in federal coronavirus relief that it is eligible for under the CARES Act, a federal coronavirus relief program passed by Congress in March.

The university will, however, make significant cutbacks despite the federal funds. This week, UW-Madison announced that it will cut pay for administrators and furlough employees. The university claims that it is currently experiencing a $120 million budget shortfall.

UW-Madison spokesperson Meredith McGlone said that the university is using its vast endowment resources to address the university’s budgetary shortfall. However, McGlone pointed out that much of the endowment is inaccessible as endowment donations are often earmarked for specific uses by donors.

“Endowment funds are also being used where appropriate given the donors’ intent,” McGlone said. “The endowment that benefits UW-Madison is and is made up of more than 6,000 endowed funds given by donors to be used for specific purposes on campus and is managed by the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association.”

Chancellor Rebecca Blank told the UW-Madison faculty that they will be asked to take on a “shared sacrifice” in the coming weeks to weather the financial storm imposed by the ongoing Chinese virus pandemic.