THE HOKIE SPIRIT MEMORIAL FUND SEEDY STORY CONTINUES

Now that I have discussed Virginia Tech’s Capital Campaign fundraising effort, the seedy side of this story continues. I will now return to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund and how Virginia Tech appears to have profited quite handsomely in another area. The question that leads into this segment is, does $8.5 million truly represent the “bulk” of the funds that were received at Virginia Tech in the aftermath of the tragedy?  The answer is, unfortunately, not by a long shot. To better set the scene, it is important to note that the Virginia Tech Foundation and Virginia Tech are two completely separate organizations from a financial perspective (although both are obviously very connected).

What follows are two tables. The first shows the changes in financial performance of the VT Foundation over four consecutive years, including the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2007. Again, the VT Foundation was the sole entity that established the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund for donations to be held following the shootings. When you look at the table, note the rather large increase for the fiscal year that included April 16, 2007. From this, presumably, came the $8.5 million that was disbursed to the families.

Virginia Tech Foundation

Financial Year	Increase in Net Assets (Millions)	Increase/Decrease from Prior Year (Millions)	Percentage Change
7/1/2003-6/30/04	+ $ 56.9	N/A	N/A
7/1/2004-6/30/05	+ $ 57.6	+ $ 0.7	+ 1.23%
7/1/2005-6/30/06	+ $ 80.9	+ $ 23.3	+ 40.45%
7/1/2006-6/30/07	+ $ 132.0	+ $ 51.1	+ 63.16%

Outside of the Virginia Tech Foundation, however, what shocked many families was the sudden and sharp improvement in the financial situation of Virginia Tech, a separate financial entity. In the table below, which contains information from Virginia Tech’s own financial reports, you will see an amazing change in the school’s asset amounts for the time period that includes the April 16^th murders as compared to the three previous years. Clearly this money was coming in as part of the outpouring of sympathy in the wake of the shootings. This sudden increase raises all sorts of questions about the school’s ethical behavior in handling its newfound wealth. How is it that donations pouring into the school and were “allegedly” going to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund or other funds established, and controlled, by the Virginia Tech Foundation found their way to the school itself? Was the temptation just too great? Was someone diddling with the books to enrich the school? The percentage change from previous years is truly astounding. The question is where did that huge gain come from? I submit that answer is simple: From the blood of innocents who were killed or wounded.

Virginia Tech University

Financial Year	Increase in Net Assets (Millions)	Increase/Decrease from Prior Year (Millions)	Percentage Change
7/1/2003-6/30/04	+ $ 61.2	+ $ 4.0	+ 6.99%
7/1/2004-6/30/05	+ $ 58.8	- $ 2.4	- 3.92%
7/1/2005-6/30/06	+ $ 39.4	- $ 19.4	- 32.99%
7/1/2006-6/30/07	+ $ 148.9	+ $ 109.5	+ 377.91%

From the tables above, there can be no arguing that there is a huge difference between the $8.5 million figure that was publicly announced by the President of Virginia Tech in October of 2007 as representing the “bulk” of the funds that were being disbursed to the families and the staggering $160 million net increase above the three-year norm for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007. Again, we have to ask, “How is it that Virginia Tech, a separate financial entity from the Virginia Tech Foundation, realized such a tremendous windfall?

The final question concerns the Hokie Spirit Scholarship Fund.  Remember, Virginia Tech did state that once the HSMF was closed, any additional donations would be kept by the school and placed into the Hokie Spirit Scholarship Fund. That is a fitting tribute to those who died and were wounded on April 16^th. But, what really happened to those donations?

In an email sent in 2010 to one of the families whose son had been killed on April 16^th, a school official discussed scholarships indicating that as of late 2010, the Hokie Spirit Memorial Scholarship Fund was endowed at about $1 Million dollars. He stated that no scholarships were awarded from 2007 to 2009.  In 2010, however, he said that just over $95,000 was awarded to 35 students [an average of just under $3,000 per student]. For 2011, and beyond, he expected that a total of around $48,000 would be awarded based on the endowment earning about $12,000 per quarter. Is Virginia Tech really telling us that only $1 million went to the Hokie Spirit Scholarship Fund at a time when the school and the Foundation were flooded with donations? This just does not make sense. There was never any transparency in the handling of these huge sums of money and the school made no effort to clarify its handling of its new wealth.

 So, the bottom line is that we have a school that was never transparent, never involved the families, kept information private, and cashed in big time on the blood of those killed and wounded on that terrible April day. It is now obvious that the school realized a net gain of well over $160 million, which is far greater than has ever been disclosed. Virginia Tech controlled every facet of the donations being sent to the school. Subsequently, I argue that an amount of just over $8 million spread out across 80 families does not represent anything close to the “bulk” of what was donated out of the extreme kindness, generosity, and compassion of so many people throughout the United States and the world.

For the families, the lies and half-truths are appalling. The healing process has been hindered by the school’s duplicity and greed. The families would have liked a say in how the money was distributed; many of them would have liked the bulk of the money to go to scholarships in the names of their loved ones, or charities of their choosing. That would have been a fitting tribute; that would have helped them. The families are not after any money; you could not give them $160 million for the life of any of their children, but to take the money that has come as a tribute to the dead and wounded, and to ride roughshod over them defies description. Senior Virginia Tech officials appear to have been involved in the solicitation of donations by providing guidance relative to when donors should send in their funds so as not to have an impact on their Capital Campaign interests. Additionally, senior Virginia Tech officials used an arbitrary decision-making process to determine what donations were intended for the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund and what were not. In other words, Virginia Tech controlled and manipulated everything, and may have even diverted money from the Virginia Tech Foundation to Virginia Tech (the school) so they could hide such a tremendous gain from casual investigation. (To be continued)